Quasar Pairs Show One Good Black Hole Deserves Another
A pair of quasar pairs in the ancient Universe give us a look at the future of our own galaxy.
Two quasar pairs seen in the early Universe are the oldest, most-distant bodies objects of their kind yet seen in the Cosmos.
Quasars are extremely energetic galaxies, powered by highly-active supermassive black holes near their centers. Matter falling into the behemoth void in the galactic core radiates vast amounts of energy out to space, forming a quasar. While this process is active, these supermassive black holes can outshine entire galaxies.
The quasars in each pair examined in this new study are just 10,000 light years from each other. This may sound like quite a distance, but this is just one-tenth the distance from one side of our galaxy to the other. This proximity suggests the quasars are found within merging galaxies.
“This truly is the first sample of dual quasars at the peak epoch of galaxy formation that we can use to probe ideas about how supermassive black holes come together to eventually form a binary,” explained Dr. Nadia Zakamska of Johns Hopkins University.
