Out there, somewhere in the cosmos, there could be a continuous black hole that is no longer at the center of its galaxy. In a journal published by the American Astronomical Society, scientists noted that the supermassive black hole thought to be the center of Abell 2261 may no longer be there. Instead, scientists say it could have been removed from its own galaxy by a process known as the recoil of gravitational waves.
During a recoil, two black holes near each other essentially converge, sending ripples through space. In theory, these ripples could push the black hole away from its current location, according to a report filed by Forbes. “That’s enough to kick the black hole completely out of the galaxy and be long gone. It would be cruising in intergalactic space, ”Kayhan Gultekin, the paper’s chief astronomer, told the magazine.
In the piece, publishers of the original magazine make sure to point out that it may technically still be in its current location; it’s just that they can’t find it now after locating it on previous occasions.
“Still, Gultekin says it is too early to conclude that there is no supermassive black hole in A2261-BCG,” Forbes adds. “But if it wasn’t there, it would be the only major galaxy discovered so far without such a massive black hole in the center. Even the supermassive black hole of our own Milky Way is relatively quiet, but it is there. . “
In an interview with Vice Last summer, Gultekin admitted that there is still a lot to learn about black holes, and solving this mystery could go a long way in answering some of the biggest open questions.
“What excites me the most is learning about supermassive black holes from gravitational waves,” said Gultekin. “We need to make sure they merge and this would be a way of showing that that is happening.”
“There are all kinds of things you can learn from gravitational waves about supermassive black holes, as populations or individual sources, that are really difficult or impossible to learn with traditional electromagnetic astronomy,” he added.
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