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Astronomers Capture First Image of Two Supermassive Black Holes Orbiting Each Other

Astronomers Capture First Image of Two Supermassive Black Holes Orbiting Each Other

OJ 287’s two supermassive black holes captured for the first time in a stunning image.

Written by Gadgets 360 Staff | Updated: 14 October 2025 23:05 IST

Astronomers Capture First Image of Two Supermassive Black Holes Orbiting Each Other

Photo Credit: NASA

Twin black holes spiral in NASA’s cosmic simulation

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Highlights

First-ever image of two orbiting supermassive black holes
Smaller black hole’s jet spirals due to gravity pull
Discovery helps understand gravitational waves and galaxy growth

Astronomers have taken the first-ever image of a pair of supermassive black holes orbiting in a distant galaxy, taken with an observatory that could hint at even more eerie ways they can behave. This galaxy is a quasar, the brightest type of active galactic nuclei. OJ 287 is very special as it has two black holes which dance around each other every 12-year orbit. The new image shows the black holes together with the energetic particle jets. These images validate the theories about the dual core structure of the galaxy.

A Cosmic Ballet

As per NASA, OJ 287, the larger black hole is 18 billion times the mass of the Sun, whereas the smaller is about 150 million solar masses. Any neutral or positive charge currents- positive and neutral charges passing through the black holes into the disk would fall along diverging field lines, while current below 1/sqrt(3) of this value would precipitate ohmic heating in the Hall layer (Hirose et al.,2014). The smaller black hole's jet spirals, like water from a spinning garden hose, because of the pull of its larger companion's gravity.

Breakthrough Observation

For the first time, astronomers have observed a smaller black hole with the aid of joint Space and Earth observations RadioAstron telescope. Understanding how the two jets interact lets scientists mine important information about how the black hole operates: For example, that is also what could generate the gravitational waves, which are ripples in spacetime.

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These are direct observations of two supermassive black holes in the act of merging. This opens new doors to learn about galaxy evolution. Continuous observations can enable astrophysicians to find the root system and know about other huge forces that shape the universe.

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