I Effects of Supermassive Black Hole Merger on Nearby Bodies

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The merger of supermassive black holes releases immense energy primarily in the form of gravitational waves, which can significantly affect nearby celestial bodies. While small objects may remain unaffected, larger bodies like stars and planets could experience gravitational slingshot effects, potentially being ejected from their orbits. The resonance of gravitational waves with nearby stars or planets raises concerns about possible destruction, although it is suggested that such catastrophic outcomes are unlikely unless these bodies are very close to the merger. The merged black hole itself would remain at the common barycenter of the original black holes, and the overall impact on nearby bodies may not be as dramatic as initially feared. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for comprehending the broader implications of black hole mergers in galactic evolution.
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What would be the effect of a merger of supermassive black holes?
What would be the effects of a merger of supermassive black holes? Such releases by far the greatest amount of energy of any event in our Universe as gravitational waves.

I suppose that a great deal of EM radiation is released, but I'm more interested in the gravitational waves. The resulting black hole may be accellerated so that it exits the galaxy at considerable velocity. But I'm mostly interested in the effect on nearby heavenly bodies. Such would have little effect on small objects but stars and planets would be fair game. I wonder whether a star or planet with resonant frequency close to that of the g waves would be destroyed, and if so at what range.
 
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Hornbein said:
Summary: What would be the effect of a merger of supermassive black holes?

What would be the effects of a merger of supermassive black holes? Such releases by far the greatest amount of energy of any event in our Universe as gravitational waves.

I suppose that a great deal of EM radiation is released, but I'm more interested in the gravitational waves. The resulting black hole may be accellerated so that it exits the galaxy at considerable velocity.

Regarding the two supermassive black holes themselves, neither would be ejected anywhere. Before the merger, they would be rotating around their common barycenter, and after the merger, the resulting merged (and larger) supermassive black hole would remain at that common barycenter.

That said, any nearby, gravitationally locked bodies (stars, planets, etc) could -- but not necessarily would -- get slingshotted out of the region, as part of the process of the merger.

Hornbein said:
But I'm mostly interested in the effect on nearby heavenly bodies. Such would have little effect on small objects but stars and planets would be fair game. I wonder whether a star or planet with resonant frequency close to that of the g waves would be destroyed, and if so at what range.

I'll leave this for others to comment on. But I'm pretty confident that nearby stars and planets would not be destroyed (assuming they are not so close to be a part of the accretion disks), and I speculate that it wouldn't even be very dramatic.
 

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