Tick … tick … boom? In the center of a galaxy 1.2 billion light-years from Earth, astronomers say they have seen signs that two giant black holes, with a combined mass of hundreds of millions of Suns, are gearing up for a cataclysmic merger as soon as 100 days from now. The event, if it happens, would be momentous for astronomy, offering a glimpse of a long-predicted, but never witnessed mechanism for black hole growth.
Such black hole pairs are not easy to detect. X-ray telescopes have discovered a handful of AGNs with two bright, separated central sources, but the putative black holes are hundreds of light-years apart and wouldn’t collide for billions of years. Once they get closer, it’s almost impossible to separate their light with a telescope.
If the merger comes to pass, observers could have a field day. “There should be a huge burst across the electromagnetic spectrum, from gamma rays to radio,” Kun says., which the IceCube detector at the South Pole—1 cubic kilometer of polar ice outfitted with light sensors to detect neutrino impacts—could pick up. Neither, however, is certain. Some predict a whimper rather than a bang. “We really don’t know what to expect,” Ransom says.
If it happens, it would have already have happened long before it would be able to be seen. Sometimes science reporters forget that light takes a considerable amount of time to travel over such distances.
who up cataclysmically merging they titans
annechrist66
1.2 B light years from Earth. 'Imminent', meaning it's basically happened already, but we've yet to see the light?
Will this affect my urine flow?
Cosmic recyclers are the only way to keep the Universe from destroying itself