Astronomers have discovered a gravitationally bound pair of quasars in merging galaxies. In this respect informs Goddard Space Center.
Quasars are incredibly bright objects based on black holes. When the surrounding matter enters the black hole’s accretion disk, it heats up and becomes a powerful source of radiation. Supermassive black holes are found at the centers of galaxies, including the Milky Way (but not each one forms a quasar).
Astronomers have now succeeded in taking an image of the ancient double quasar using the Hubble telescope. This was done as a result of targeted searches, as scientists were particularly interested in studying how the merging of galaxies progressed in the age of the young universe. The discovered quasars are now observed 3 billion years after the big bang.
Over the last 10 billion years, host galaxies have likely evolved into a giant elliptical galaxy and a pair of quasars into a massive supermassive black hole. The nearby elliptical galaxy M87 has a massive black hole with a mass 6.5 billion times that of the Sun. This black hole may have grown from one or more galaxy mergers over billions of years.
previous experiment showedThe disappearing balloon trick can’t fool the monkeys.