A recent press release from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy reports the first direct evidence of a close pair of supermassive black holes at the center of the galaxy Markarian 501 (Read the press release). Based on more than 20 years of radio observations, researchers identified two distinct particle jets, revealing two black holes orbiting each other at very close range. The system is believed to be in the final stage before merging, possibly within the next 100 years.
The results, to be published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, confirm a long-predicted phase of black hole evolution and open new opportunities to study how these extreme objects grow and collide. See publication.
Image (C) The artistic rendering shows the center of the galaxy Markarian 501, from which two powerful jets emanate. The supermassive black hole at the centre, whose existence was already known, partially bends the light from the jet behind it into a so-called Einstein ring. This curved jet most likely originates from a second, unobserved black hole. The radio observations are visible as contours in the background. Emma Kun / HUN-REN Konkoly Observatory / Made with the support of AI