While studying a nearby pair of merging galaxies using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) scientists discovered two supermassive black holes growing simultaneously near the center of the newly coalescing galaxy. These super-hungry giants are the closest together that scientists have ever observed in multiple wavelengths.
Read the ALMA press release here.
Image: © ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO); M. Weiss (NRAO/AUI/NSF); Scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to look deep into the heart of the pair of merging galaxies known as UGC 4211 discovered two black holes growing side by side, just 750 light-years apart. This artist’s conception shows the late-stage galaxy merger and its two central black holes. The binary black holes are the closest together ever observed in multiple wavelengths.