Black Hole Collision: What Would Happen?

In summary, two black holes colliding at the speed of light would result in the fusion of their singularities, producing gravitational waves. However, due to the limitation of mass being unable to travel at the speed of light, this scenario is unlikely to occur. In addition, the fusing of the singularities would take an infinite amount of time from the perspective of the black holes, but would appear to happen within a finite amount of time from an outside observer's perspective. There is also a possibility that even at lower velocities, the collision of black holes would have observable consequences.
  • #1
jontyjashan
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what would happen if a black hole collides with a black hole with the speed of light
 
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  • #2
jontyjashan said:
what would happen if a black hole collides with a black hole with the speed of light

Hi jontyjashan! :smile:

Black holes have mass, and so can't travel at the speed of light.
 
  • #3
Gravitational waves will probably be the result, isn't this what LIGO is looking for?
 
  • #4
jontyjashan said:
what would happen if a black hole collides with a black hole with the speed of light

Any black hole collision results in the fusing of the singularites and gravitational waves. I'm guessing the faster they collide, the more energy is probably put into the gravitational waves. So, nothing really special would happen. Tiny Tim is right though... nothing with mass can travel at speed c.
 
  • #5
Well if u ignore the fact that if would take an "infinate" amount of time (well even longer cause there are two black holes) for them to abosorb into each other. Wouldnt the larger black hole tear apart the smaller one. How do u tear apart something with a volume a zero? Now say that are the same size wouldn't they just absorb each other for an actually infinate amount of time, transfering mass to each other at the same rate while never colliding? Only appearing to fuse but never doing so.
 
  • #6
d0wnl0w said:
Well if u ignore the fact that if would take an "infinate" amount of time (well even longer cause there are two black holes) for them to abosorb into each other. Wouldnt the larger black hole tear apart the smaller one. How do u tear apart something with a volume a zero? Now say that are the same size wouldn't they just absorb each other for an actually infinate amount of time, transfering mass to each other at the same rate while never colliding? Only appearing to fuse but never doing so.

From who's reference frame are you talking about?

It happens, black holes fuse. The singularities orbit each other until they fuse.
 
  • #7
Well i know this is stupid, but from our referance they would appear to fuse. Also from our referance they never actually fuse because it would take an infinity to reach that point. My curiosity is would the masses not fusing have noticable effects on the orbiting masses or hot gas (forgot what its called exactly). Maybe I am just confused on the infinity it would take the masses to reach each other relative to us. Or has that theory changed. I never really like the idea of infinate time anyway.
 
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  • #8
d0wnl0w said:
Well i know this is stupid, but from our referance they would appear to fuse. Also from our referance they never actually fuse because it would take an infinity to reach that point. My curiosity is would the masses not fusing have noticable effects on the orbiting masses or hot gas (forgot what its called exactly). Maybe I am just confused on the infinity it would take the masses to reach each other relative to us. Or has that theory changed.

I was always under the assumption that the fusing of two singularities took a finite time.
 
  • #9
Well from my understanding if light cannot escape (aka event horizon) then the curve of spacetime at that point is in fact infinate. However from what I read the acceleratrion of the falling object would allow it to pass the event horizon. I read some more sources on the Schwarzschild solution to the gravitational field and it does not take an infinate time to cross the event horizon only to merge with the singularity itself. So I am guessing the singularities would never merge they would just be very close so the effect on gravitational pull would be negliable.
 
  • #10
d0wnl0w said:
Well from my understanding if light cannot escape (aka event horizon) then the curve of spacetime at that point is in fact infinate. However from what I read the acceleratrion of the falling object would allow it to pass the event horizon. I read some more sources on the Schwarzschild solution to the gravitational field and it does not take an infinate time to cross the event horizon only to merge with the singularity itself. So I am guessing the singularities would never merge they would just be very close so the effect on gravitational pull would be negliable.

I'm not sure on this. I'll do some reading. I better get to bed. It's 3 am where I am now.
 
  • #11
lol me too~Chi-town
 
  • #12
d0wnl0w said:
Well from my understanding if light cannot escape (aka event horizon) then the curve of space time at that point is in fact infinite. However from what I read the acceleration of the falling object would allow it to pass the event horizon. I read some more sources on the Schwarzschild solution to the gravitational field and it does not take an infinite time to cross the event horizon only to merge with the singularity itself. So I'm guessing the singularities would never merge they would just be very close so the effect on gravitational pull would be negliable.

Shouldn't in our view it fuses but in the view of the black holes they never get to fuses because it takes infinite time?
 
  • #13
Bright Wang said:
Shouldn't in our view it fuses but in the view of the black holes they never get to fuses because it takes infinite time?

This is correct. Time is infinite from the reference frame of within the black hole. To us though, it is still finite. So, yes, they merge in a finite amount of time from our perspective.
 

1. What exactly is a black hole collision?

A black hole collision occurs when two or more black holes merge together due to their gravitational pull. This occurs when black holes are in close proximity to each other, and their gravitational forces cause them to spiral towards each other until they merge into one larger black hole.

2. What would happen if two black holes collide?

The collision of two black holes would release an enormous amount of energy in the form of gravitational waves. This energy would cause ripples in the fabric of space-time, similar to dropping a stone in a pond. The resulting black hole would also be larger and more powerful than either of the original black holes.

3. Would the collision of two black holes be dangerous for Earth?

No, a black hole collision would not pose any danger to Earth. In fact, the nearest known black hole is more than 1,000 light years away from Earth, making it too far to have any significant effect on our planet.

4. Can we detect or observe a black hole collision?

Yes, scientists have already detected gravitational waves from the collision of two black holes. These gravitational waves were detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and the Virgo interferometer, both of which are designed to observe these types of cosmic events.

5. What can we learn from a black hole collision?

Black hole collisions can provide valuable insights into the nature of gravity and the behavior of matter under extreme conditions. They can also help us better understand the properties and behavior of black holes, which are still largely a mystery to scientists.

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