Evidence of Orbiting Black Holes?

[EskWIRED]

Do we have any evidence that either:

1. There exist stellar black holes which orbit supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies, or

2. There exist black hole pairs which orbit each other, around their shared center of mass?And if the second scenario were to exist, what would happen if/when their event horizons were to intersect?

 

[phinds]

I can only address your last question. If two black holes get close to each other (and certainly having their event horizons touch would be very close) they will merge into one larger black hole. It is believe that this process will send out gravity waves but we have not yet been able to detect gravity waves.

 

[phyzguy]

There are several strong candidates for galaxies which have two supermassive black holes orbiting each other at their center. Here is one of the strongest candidates. Eventually they will merge into a single black hole and emit a burst of gravitational waves, as phinds said.

 

[EskWIRED]

There are several strong candidates for galaxies which have two supermassive black holes orbiting each other at their center. Here is one of the strongest candidates. Eventually they will merge into a single black hole and emit a burst of gravitational waves, as phinds said.

Very cool. Thanks.


We can assume that the spacing between the black holes is greater than the radius of the two event horizons. What would the area near the center of gravity be like? I assume relatively mild tidal forces, given that they are large black holes. Is the space time near the center of mass "turbulent"? if so, what sorts of effects might one observe?

 

[pmacias]

I can say that there is strong evidence for both scenarios mentioned. In the first scenario, observations of the orbits of stars near the center of our own Milky Way galaxy suggest the presence of a supermassive black hole, which is estimated to have a mass of about 4 million times that of our Sun. This supermassive black hole, known as Sagittarius A*, is believed to be orbited by a number of smaller stellar black holes. This evidence is based on the observed motion of these stars, which can only be explained by the presence of a massive object like a black hole.

In the second scenario, there is also strong evidence for the existence of binary black hole systems, where two black holes orbit each other. This evidence comes from the detection of gravitational waves, which are ripples in the fabric of space-time caused by the movements of massive objects. In 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detected the first gravitational wave signal from the merger of two black holes, providing direct evidence for the existence of binary black hole systems.

If the event horizons of two black holes were to intersect, it would result in a phenomenon known as a black hole merger. This occurs when the two black holes come close enough to each other and their gravitational pull causes them to spiral towards each other. As they merge, they release a tremendous amount of energy in the form of gravitational waves, which can be detected by sensitive instruments like LIGO. The resulting black hole would have a mass equal to the sum of the two original black holes, and its event horizon would be larger than either of the individual black holes. This process is an important part of the evolution of galaxies, as it can lead to the growth of supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies.