Scientists have discovered a new way to find supermassive black hole pairs. They are using small black holes in a cosmic game of “hide-and-seek.” This method could help solve the mystery of how supermassive black holes grew so fast in the early universe.
Supermassive black holes are very large. They have masses millions or billions of times that of the sun. These black holes are found at the centers of galaxies. Despite their size, they are hard to detect. The reason behind is that they do not emit light. They are only visible if they are consuming a lot of surrounding matter or tearing apart a star.
Astronomers have found a new way to detect these elusive giants. They are using gravitational waves. These are tiny ripples in spacetime. They are created by pairs of small black holes. These waves can help astronomers find supermassive black hole pairs.
Jakob Stegmann, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, explained this method. He said, “Our idea works like listening to a radio channel. We propose to use the signal from pairs of small black holes similar to how radio waves carry the signal. The supermassive black holes are the music that is encoded in the frequency modulation (FM) of the detected signal”.
Gravitational waves are a new way to study the universe. They were first detected in 2015. Since then, they have opened up a new field of astronomy. They allow scientists to study objects that do not emit light. This includes black holes.
The new method uses the gravitational waves from small black hole pairs. These waves can help astronomers find supermassive black hole pairs. This is because the waves are affected by the presence of supermassive black holes. By studying these waves, astronomers can find the hidden giants.
This method could help solve a big mystery in astronomy. Scientists do not know how supermassive black holes grew so fast in the early universe. They hope that this new method will provide some answers.
Supermassive black holes are important for understanding the universe. These supermassive black holes play an important role in the formation and evolution of galaxies. They also affect the growth of stars and the distribution of matter in the universe.
The new method is still in its primary stages. Scientists are working to improve it. They hope that it will become a powerful tool for studying the universe.
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