Indian space researchers discover rare merger of three supermassive black holes
Researchers from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics discovered the rare occurrence while studying the galaxy pair, NGC7733, and NGC7734.
FollowIn a major breakthrough, Indian researchers have discovered three supermassive black holes merging together to form a triple active galactic nucleus, a compact region at the center of a newly discovered galaxy that has a much-higher-than-normal luminosity.
A team of astrophysicists were observing the merging of two galaxies named NGC7733 and NGC 7734 in our celestial neighbourhood when they detected unusual emissions from the centre of the latter and also a curious movement of a large bright clump having a different velocity than that of NGC7733. Inferring that this was a separate galaxy, the scientists named it NGC7733N, according to the Press Information Bureau.
The study published as a letter in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics was intended to investigate the nature of the nuclear emission from the galaxies in the interacting pair NGC 7733NGC 7734.
"We have confirmed the existence of the third galaxy, NGC 7733N, in the NGC 773334 group. It appears to overlap with the northern arm of NGC 7733," researchers said in the paper.
Also read:Â Apple now allows developers to accept payments outside App Store
This rare occurrence in our nearby universe indicates that small merging groups are ideal laboratories to detect multiple accreting supermassive black holes and increases the possibility of detecting such rare occurrences, as per the information provided by the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Supermassive black holes are difficult to detect because they do not emit any light.
But they can reveal their presence by interacting with their surroundings. When the dust and gas from the surroundings fall onto a supermassive black hole, some of the mass is swallowed by the black hole, but some of it is converted into energy and emitted as electromagnetic radiation that makes the black hole appear very luminous.
NOTE: Asianet News humbly requests everyone to wear masks, sanitize, maintain social distancing and get vaccinated as soon as eligible. Together we can and will break the chain #ANCares #IndiaFightsCoronaÂ
