For the 1st time, The Collision of ‘Impossible’ Black Holes was detected and directly observed by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Laboratory (LIGO) Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration also known as LVC (LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration), which includes scientists from the Australian National University (ANU). They Initially found 2 black holes of 66 and 85 solar masses, which generated a final black hole of 142 solar masses, till now it is the largest black hole ever observed through gravitational-wave observations.
- 2 scientific papers about the discovery of the black hole and its astrophysical implications have been published in Physical Review Letters and Astrophysical Journal Letters respectively.
Short gravitational wave signal Captured
LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave observatories in the United States and Europe captured the short gravitational wave signal, GW190521, on May 21, 2019, which came from the two highly spinning, mammoth black holes.
‘Impossible’ Black Hole
- The larger of the two black holes is considered `impossible.`
- The `impossible` black hole formed is present in the black hole desert between 100 and 1,000 times the mass of the Sun.
Note– It is the 1st direct observation of an Intermediate Mass Black Holes(IMBHs) in this mass range.
Key Points
i.As per the prediction of the astronomers, the stars between 65 and 130 times the mass of the Sun will undergo a process called pair instability, which results in the star exploding and leaving nothing behind.
About 2 black holes
When the universe was about 7 billion years old(roughly half its present age), the two black holes merged.
Intermediate Mass Black Holes
i.Intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs) are the black holes of mass 100 to 100,000 solar masses
ii.They are lighter than supermassive black holes, often located at the centres of galaxies and heavier than stellar mass black holes
iii.For IMBHs there have been no definite electromagnetic observations.
Additional Info
There are various different environments in which this system of two black holes may have formed and the disk of gas surrounding a supermassive black hole is certainly one of them.
Recent Related News:
i.The researchers spotted a Jupiter-like planet, 39 times more massive than the Earth, orbiting around a distant star with temperature lower than the Sun, the planet is located around 730 light years away from Earth. The astronomers named the planet TOI-849b. This is the first ever planetary core to be found by the astronomers.
- The study was made by the team led by Dr David Armstrong from the University of Warwick’s Department of Physics.
ii.The Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) revealed the discovery of a rare ‘first of its kind’ Trojan asteroid called 2019 LD2 with a comet-like-tail among the Jupiter Trojans, moving in the same orbit as Jupiter moves around the sun.
About LIGO Scientific Collaboration :
Headquarters– United States
Spokesperson– Prof. Patrick Brady
About Virgo Collaboration:
Headquarter– Santo Stefano a Macerata, Cascina, Italy
Spokesperson– Giovanni Losurdo
