NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has detected a unique signal from two supermassive black holes, locked in a cosmic dance that disturbs the dense gas cloud at the center of a distant galaxy. AT 2021 The phenomenon, known as HDR, has sparked considerable interest among astronomers, with researchers observing an unusual cycle of gas disruption as black holes orbit each other.
This gas-churning event was first documented by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) at Palomar Observatory in California in March 2021. Led by Dr. Lorena Hernandez-Garcia, an astrophysicist at the Millennium Institute of Astrophysics and Valparaiso University in Chile, a study in AT 2021HDR reveals a recurring glow, a pattern that scientists attribute to the gravitational effect of a black hole on a gas giant. Suggest to arise. Cloud. The findings, published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, explain how these massive objects stretch and heat gas, triggering light oscillations at different wavelengths.
AT 2021Highlighting the source of HDR
In the galaxy 2MASX J21240027+3409114, located in the Cygnus constellation about 1 billion light years away, these black holes together have a mass 40 million times that of the Sun. Their proximity – just 16 billion miles apart – produces observable light variations every 130 days. Scientists estimate that this frequency could eventually result in the merger of black holes in about 70,000 years.
Initially thought to be supernovae, the recurring nature of these explosions led astronomers to reevaluate their assumptions. Dr. Alejandra Muñoz-Arancibia, a researcher at ALERCE and the University of Chile, said continued observations in 2022 helped develop a more accurate understanding of the phenomenon. From November 2022, Swift’s ultraviolet and X-ray observations in visible light align with ZTF’s findings, strengthening the theory of an orbiting gas cloud undergoing cyclic perturbation by the black hole’s gravitational forces.
Future studies and implications
This discovery provides a unique perspective on supermassive black hole interactions. AT 2021Continued study of the HDR and its host galaxy—currently merging with another—is expected to provide new insights into galactic evolution and black hole behavior.
