Get ready for a mind-bending revelation! We've got a groundbreaking image that's set to revolutionize our understanding of the cosmos. For the very first time, astronomers have captured a glimpse of two black holes, these gravitational giants, dancing in perfect harmony. This discovery is a game-changer, offering undeniable proof of a theory that's been eluding scientists for decades.
The image, a true cosmic masterpiece, showcases a pair of supermassive black holes locked in a cosmic embrace within the vibrant quasar OJ287. Located a staggering 5 billion light-years away in the constellation Cancer, this quasar is a powerhouse, with extreme conditions causing gas and dust to glow brilliantly.
Researchers are buzzing with excitement, as this snapshot provides the clearest evidence yet of binary black holes. "Quasar OJ287 is so luminous that even amateur astronomers with their telescopes can detect it," says Mauri Valtonen, an astronomer from the University of Turku, Finland.
Quasars are among the brightest objects in the universe, and while astronomers have captured individual black holes before, such as in our Milky Way and Messier 87, witnessing two orbiting each other is an unprecedented feat.
But here's where it gets controversial... While gravitational wave detections have hinted at the existence of black hole pairs and their eventual mergers, OJ287's duo had never been visually confirmed. Telescopes simply lacked the resolution to distinguish them as separate entities.
The quasar OJ287 has been under observation for over a century, with early photographs from the late 1800s capturing its presence, decades before black holes and quasars were even conceived. It started gaining attention in 1982 when Aimo Sillanpää, a Finnish astronomer, noticed its brightness fluctuating on a 12-year cycle, suggesting the presence of two black holes. Since then, hundreds of astronomers have been monitoring OJ287, eager to prove the theory and uncover the truth about these galactic heartbeats.
Fast forward to the present, and we have a breakthrough! Radio observations combining Earth-based telescopes with the RadioAstron (Spektr-R) satellite, a Russian radio telescope that operated from 2011 to 2019, have provided the long-awaited confirmation. With an orbit extending halfway to the moon, this telescope offered a view that was 100,000 times sharper than typical optical images.
When researchers compared the new radio image with past theoretical calculations, the black holes were right where they were expected to be. "The black holes themselves are invisible, but their presence can be detected through particle jets or the glowing gas surrounding them," Valtonen explains.
The images also revealed an intriguing twist - the jet from the smaller black hole was "twisted like a jet of a rotating garden hose," caused by its rapid motion around the larger one. The researchers predict that this jet will appear to wag back and forth, creating a cosmic tail effect as the smaller black hole continues its 12-year orbit, offering a unique opportunity to witness their motion in real time.
This groundbreaking research has been published in the Astrophysical Journal on October 9, 2023.
So, what do you think about this cosmic revelation? Are you as excited as we are about the potential insights it offers? Feel free to share your thoughts and join the discussion in the comments below!
