For the first time, two supermassive black holes have been 'seen' orbiting each other, 5 billion light years from Earth.

For the first time in history, astronomers have captured images of two supermassive black holes orbiting each other in the quasar OJ287, 5 billion light-years from Earth.

Partial image of two black holes orbiting each other in quasar OJ287 - Photo: JL Gomez et al./University of Turku

According to Space , after decades of searching, astronomers have captured images of two supermassive black holes orbiting each other at the center of quasar OJ287, located about 5 billion light-years from Earth and in the constellation Cancer.

Researchers say the image provides the clearest evidence yet of the existence of binary black holes – two objects with extremely strong gravitational pulls bound together – in the universe.

Quasars are regions at the center of galaxies where the extreme conditions surrounding supermassive black holes cause gas and dust to heat up and glow brightly. OJ287 is so bright that “even amateur astronomers can see it with their personal telescopes,” said lead author Mauri Valtonen of the University of Turku in Finland.

Previously, astronomers had only recorded individual images of a few black holes, such as those at the center of the Milky Way and the Messier 87 galaxy. This is the first time two black holes orbiting each other have been directly observed.

Although previous gravitational wave detections have suggested the existence of black hole binaries, the OJ287 system has never been observed visually due to the resolution limitations of existing telescopes.

"When we compared the new radio image with previous theoretical simulations, the two black holes appeared exactly where predicted. The black holes themselves are absolutely black, but can be detected thanks to the jets of high-energy particles or glowing gas surrounding them," Professor Valtonen explained.

The images also show the jet from the smaller black hole being bent like a jet of water from a rotating nozzle, due to its rapid rotation around the larger black hole.

The team predicts that this jet of matter will oscillate back and forth like a "cosmic tail" as the small black hole continues to spin in its 12-year orbit, opening up a rare opportunity to observe this movement in real time.

The research is published in the Astrophysical Journal.

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MINH ANH

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