Closest pair of supermassive black holes as seen by MUSE

In this Picture of the Week we peer closer into the galaxy UGC 4211, where astronomers have discovered two supermassive black holes on the verge of merging, separated by just 750 lightyears — the closest to have been found to date and less than half of the previous record. They used ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), of which ESO is a partner, and other telescopes to detect the bright light produced as the black holes engulf material in their vicinity.

The image shown here was made using data from the MUSE instrument on ESO’s VLT in Chile, and it shows a classical view of this galaxy, with dust lanes obscuring starlight. Check the alternative versions in the links below, which reveal the presence of two supermassive black holes swallowing material from their surroundings. 

Combining data from the VLT, ALMA and other telescopes, a team led by Michael Koss at Eureka Scientific in the US could identify these two black holes and study them in detail. These black holes likely found each other when their host galaxies collided and merged. Observing this system will help improve our understanding of how galaxies and their supermassive black holes grow as they merge.

Alternative versions of this image

Credit:

ESO/Koss et al.

Over de afbeelding

Id:potw2302b
Type:Observatie
Publicatiedatum:10 januari 2023 06:00
Grootte:641 x 641 px

Over het object

Naam:UGC 4211
Type:Early Universe : Galaxy : Component : Central Black Hole
Constellation:Cancer
Categorie:Quasars and Black Holes

Afbeeldingstypen

Grote JPEG
74,8 KB

Inzoomen


Achtergrond

1024x768
108,2 KB
1280x1024
151,8 KB
1600x1200
192,3 KB
1920x1200
209,0 KB
2048x1536
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Coordinates

Position (RA):8 4 46.39
Position (Dec):10° 46' 35.92"
Field of view:0.14 x 0.14 arcminutes
Orientation:North is -0.0° left of vertical

Kleuren & filters

BandGolflengteTelescoop
Optisch
g
475 nmVery Large Telescope
MUSE
Optisch
r
625 nmVery Large Telescope
MUSE
Optisch
i
814 nmVery Large Telescope
MUSE
Optisch
z
850 nmVery Large Telescope
MUSE