After the Big Bang: They observed the merger of two black holes that occurred 740 million years ago

he beingAccording to estimates, it has turned around 13.8 billion years. Most existing galaxies formed at an early stage, after the Big Bang, and are usually found in their centers Supermassive black holes That attracts everything that is within their reach.

Its growth processes are still poorly understood, as evidence suggests it had to take steps to reach its current size More quickly Which is considered possible. For astronomers, knowing the history of the evolution of these objects with large gravitational forces is necessary because they are an influential factor in… Formation of galaxies.

Thanks to the data you provided James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)A team of scientists has managed to discover traces that would confirm the merger of galaxies with their black holes, which has only just begun 740 million years After the creation of the universe. the results Posted in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

“These signs The most distant revelation “A black hole merger has never been obtained, and this is the first time that this phenomenon has been detected so early in the Universe,” they expressed from the European Space Agency (ESA) in press release. Black holes of the system that was called ZS7 They revolve around each other in what is called Binary black holeThey are expected to collide in the near future.

This provides new information necessary to understand how these giant black holes were able to increase their size until they reached enormous masses. 66 billion times that of the sunlike the largest black hole known to date, tons 618. Likewise, this discovery opens doors to a theory that could have been formed From mergers In the early ages of the universe.

“Our findings suggest that nuclear fusion is an important pathway through which black holes can grow rapidly, even in Cosmic dawn. In addition to Webb's other discoveries about active massive black holes in the distant universe, our results also show that massive black holes are forming Evolution of galaxies “Right from the beginning,” explained the study’s lead author, Hannah Opler of the University of Cambridge in the UK.

The James Webb Space Telescope has the ability to capture information from space objects through the light they emit in a process called… Spectroscopic analysis. Inside the telescope, this light is Decomposed with its different wavelengths and forms a spectrum that is then focused on the detector. “Every chemical element has its own light one soul“Like a fingerprint,” they say from the European Space Agency. Black holes that consume matter are usually surrounded by them Ionized gases Which are illuminated by the radiation they emit when they grow. This generates a Specific signature Which was discovered by JWST.

In this way, the team of scientists was able to discover one of the black holes belonging to ZS7. They estimate that it has mass 50 million times larger than the sunIts companion must share similar properties, but they were unable to measure it accurately because of the cosmic gas surrounding it. “With the unprecedented clarity of its imaging capabilities, Webb also allowed our team to do just that Spatially separated “Black holes,” Opler commented.

When two black holes merge, they are created Gravitational waves That expands throughout the entire universe. This will happen in the ZS7 system, and can be detected by projects that will put gravitational wave observatories into operation, e.g Space antenna with laser interferometer (LISA) The European Space Agency stated that it will begin studying these waves when it is launched in the mid-2030s, and it will be the first space observatory dedicated to studying gravitational waves.

It would represent an important step in astrophysics, as it is estimated that such smaller-scale events could occur. More common than you think, according to LISA project lead scientist Nora Luitzgendorf. The speed and regularity with which these events occur will be studied by a team of scientists in order to determine more precisely interaction Which they had with their galaxies in the first billion years of the universe's formation, and in this way, they continue to expand knowledge about History of the formation of outer space.