Scientists have found a huge black hole, but doubted it

Some of the most mysterious objects in the universe,black holes regularly attract attention. We know that they collide, merge, change brightness, and even evaporate. And also, in theory, black holes can connect universes with wormholes. However, all our knowledge and assumptions about these massive objects may turn out to be inaccurate. Recently, rumors have appeared in the scientific community that scientists received a signal coming from a black hole, the size and mass of which are so huge that its existence is physically impossible.

Such a supermassive black hole was portrayed in the movie Interstellar

Supermassive black holes

A black hole is a place in spacetimeonce in which not a single object will be able to escape. Moreover, even photons of light will remain there forever. Each black hole has a large mass and incredible gravitational attraction. So strong that what is beyond the horizon of events will forever remain a mystery to us. Growing, black holes form the nuclei of most galaxies.

Supermassive black holes are consideredobjects weighing about 105 and above the masses of the sun. In the galaxy NGC 4889 in the constellation Volos Veronica is the heaviest supermassive black hole known today. Its mass is about 21 billion solar masses. This is a real space monster.

In the center of the image is the elliptical galaxy NGC 4889 in the constellation Veronica Hair

Note that supermassive black holes,exceeding the mass of our Sun by millions and billions of times, rotating in the centers of galaxies, formed in the early Universe in a variety of different and mysterious ways. There is no generally accepted theory of the formation of black holes of such mass. You can discuss the most diverse options for the emergence of these space monsters in our Telegram chat.

Incredible space monster

In the absence of a unified theory of formationsupermassive black holes, these objects remain one of the main mysteries of our time. Recently, black hole physicists excitedly debated reports that the LIGO and Virgo detectors, which detected gravitational waves in 2017, recently caught a signal coming from an unexpectedly huge black hole whose mass was considered physically impossible.

In the photo, the laser-interferometric gravitational-wave observatory Ligo

The fact is that some black holes formas a result of a supernova explosion. This happens if the mass of the supernova exceeds 20 solar masses. Those supernovae whose mass exceeds the mass of the Sun 8 times after the explosion turn into neutron stars. However, when the core of a dying star is very heavy, it does not gravitationally collapse into a black hole. Instead, the star will undergo a second explosion, which will completely destroy it in seconds, leaving nothing behind. Thus, the presence of supermassive black holes rotating not at the centers of galaxies whose mass exceeds 130 solar masses is considered impossible.

Scientists are based on a 2002 study onsupernova explosions with paired instability. The data obtained during the study are considered final. On our Yandex.Zen channel, you can find out even more amazing facts about black holes and supernovae.

Meanwhile: Gravitational waves from the confluence of a black hole and a neutron star are first recorded

However, to form a black holeexceeding 130 solar masses, a star, weighing more than 300 suns, was to be born and die. Such giants are extremely rare in the vastness of the universe. For this reason, most experts suggested that the black holes discovered by LIGO and Virgo should reach a maximum at about 50 solar masses.

But Carl Rodriguez from MassachusettsInstitute of Technology and Suraw Chatterjee from the Tata Institute of Basic Research in Mumbai, are betting that there is a workaround for the formation of black holes of such large sizes. While most of the colliding black holes probably arose as pairs of isolated stars (binary stellar systems are widespread in space), Rodriguez and his colleagues argue that some of the collisions detected occur in dense stellar systems, for example, in globular clusters.

Black holes spinning close to each otherfriend, sometimes merge into one big. Inside a globular cluster, a black hole with a mass of 50 suns can merge, for example, with a hole whose mass is 30 suns, and then the resulting giant can again merge with the nearest black hole. Researchers call this the “second-generation merger." The signal emanating from just such a giant, the researchers believe, and recorded LIGO and Virgo.

Are scientists right

The team of LIGO and Virgo scientists is usually fastannounces each potential event, such as the detection of gravitational waves. Scientists act so that their colleagues also begin to work in this direction.

However, to date, no officialThere have been no applications from the LIGO team. At the same time, LIGO representatives plan to tell the world about the estimated size of the colliding objects no later than spring 2020. If a black hole of too large size is one of the data received by the team, the analysis will also reveal how quickly the hole and its satellite rotated in a collision. According to scientists, this information will help to understand the history of the origin of at least one of the colliding objects.

Do you think such giants exist in the vastness of the universe?