Serbian astrophysicist Marko Mićić of the University of Alabama has led a research team that discovered two pairs of massive black holes in merging dwarf galaxies, a finding that could provide valuable insights into the evolution of the universe and the formation of large galaxies.
One pair of black holes, named Mirabilis, is located in the Abell 133 galaxy cluster, approximately 760 million light-years from Earth.
The second pair was discovered in two galaxies named Elstir and Vinteuil, situated in the Abell 1758S galaxy cluster, roughly 3.2 billion light-years away.
Black hole pairs discovered at different stages of galactic mergers
The first system, Mirabilis, was named after an endangered species of hummingbird known for its exceptionally long tail.
The second system, consisting of the galaxies Elstir and Vinteuil, is at an earlier stage of merging.
Astronomers observed a visible bridge of stars and cosmic gas connecting the two galaxies, providing evidence of their gravitational interaction.
The galaxies were named after characters from In Search of Lost Time, the celebrated novel by French writer Marcel Proust.
NASA telescopes contribute to discovery
The research team led by Mićić analyzed data collected by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE).
The scientists also used optical observations from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope to examine the galaxies and identify evidence of black hole activity.
By combining X-ray, infrared and optical observations, researchers were able to study these distant systems and their interactions.
Discovery could help explain the formation of the Milky Way
According to scientists, studying pairs of massive black holes in merging dwarf galaxies could improve our understanding of how the earliest galaxies formed and evolved.
The findings may also shed light on the growth of black holes and the processes that trigger star formation during galactic collisions, Sputnik reported.
Researchers believe that dwarf galaxies in the early universe gradually merged and increased in size, contributing to the development of much larger galactic structures.
These processes are thought to have played an important role in the formation of galaxies such as the Milky Way.
The discovery offers another opportunity to investigate how smaller galaxies and their central black holes interacted during the universe’s early development, potentially revealing more about the origins of the large galaxies observed today.
Source: RTRS
