Jonathan is an educator based in Hungary with a passion for astronomy. He enjoys communicating science stories in astrophysics and cosmology. He has a bachelor's degree in astrophysics from Cardiff University and a PhD in astronomy from Queen Mary University of London. In his spare time he enjoys hiking with his family and exploring the night sky.
Scientists have been modeling how supermassive black holes form when two smaller black holes merge. But in their simulations, most pairs of massive black holes get stuck orbiting each other indefinitely. Now, scientists may have finally found a solution to this"final parsec problem" — and it may also help uncover the identity of one of the universe's most mysterious components.
Eternal cosmic danceResearchers use sophisticated computer simulations to investigate the complex dance of these circling black holes. But until now, the models have run into a problem: When the black holes get down to a separation of about a parsec — about 3.26 light-years — they get stuck, circling each other eternally.That's because, to collide and merge, the spiraling black holes must first lose energy and slow down.
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.An extra ingredientScientists have come up with a few ideas to solve the problem. One answer could be that a spinning disk of matter that orbits the black holes, called an accretion disk, could speed their infall.
Although dark matter is five times more abundant in the universe than ordinary matter, it is essentially invisible and little is known about its properties. Usually, scientists assume that it is collisionless, meaning it doesn't interact with ordinary matter or itself, in any way except through gravity. But because so little is known about it, astronomers sometimes move beyond this simple model.
The"spikes are incapable of absorbing the frictional heat and are destroyed by the merger," the team explains in the paper. The energy from the orbiting black holes heats up the dark matter, eventually dispersing it into the wider galaxy, neutralizing the desired effect on the orbiting black holes. SIDM softens the spectrumWhile still theoretical, the new SIDM models may help solve another puzzle. When the black holes are far apart, they radiate very long gravitational waves, like widely separated crests of ocean waves. As the black holes spiral closer, the crests also get closer together. But measurements from pulsar timing hint that the height of the crests is smaller when they are closer together — an effect astronomers call a"softening" of the spectrum.
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