Monster Black Hole Gets Kicked out of Home Galaxy by Gravitational Wave
What
happens if two black holes collide? Scientists have found evidence that
such an event took place during the merging of two galaxies. The
result? New observations show that a monster black hole was actually
ejected from such a collision site, being given a kick from
gravitational waves from the collision. The amount of energy required is
enormous! Probably the equivalent energy of 100 million supernovas
exploding simultaneously. Observations show that the runaway black hole
is the most massive ever found so distant from its origin.
Join
Tony Darnell and Carol Christian during Afternoon Astronomy Coffee as
they discuss with Marco Chiaberge (Space Telescope Science Institute),
Eileen Meyer (University of Baltimore, Baltimore County) and Grant
Tremblay (Yale University) as they discuss the discovery and
observations of this remarkable event and how they arrived at the
exciting result that the black hole was kicked out with gravitational
waves.
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The press release is here: