NASA’s Swift discovers two black holes disrupting the galactic gas cloud

NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has detected a unique signal from two massive black holes, locked in a cosmic dance that is disrupting a dense cloud of gas at the center of a distant galaxy. The phenomenon, known as AT 2021hdr, has generated significant interest among astronomers, with researchers observing an unusual cycle of gas disruptions as the black holes orbit each other.

This gas swirling event was first documented in March 2021 by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) at the Palomar Observatory, California. Led by Dr. Lorena Hernández-García, an astrophysicist at the Millennium Institute of Astrophysics and the University of Valparaíso in Chile, a study of AT 2021hdr reveals a recurring outburst, a pattern that scientists suggest is due to the gravitational influence of black holes on a huge gas cloud. The findings, which appear in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, describe how these giant objects pull and heat the gas, causing light oscillations across different wavelengths.

Uncovering the source of AT 2021hdr

Located in galaxy 2MASX J21240027+3409114, about 1 billion light-years away in the constellation Cygnus, these black holes together have a mass 40 million times that of the Sun. Their proximity – just 16 billion miles apart – produces observable light variations every 130 days. This frequency, scientists predict, could eventually culminate in the black holes merging in about 70,000 years.

Initially considered a supernova, the recurring nature of these outbursts led astronomers to reevaluate their assumptions. Dr. Alejandra Muñoz-Arancibia, a researcher with ALeRCE and the University of Chile, noted that frequent observations in 2022 helped to develop a more accurate understanding of this phenomenon. As of November 2022, Swift’s ultraviolet and

Future studies and implications

This discovery offers a unique perspective on the interactions between supermassive black holes. Continued studies of AT 2021hdr and its host galaxy – which is currently merging with another galaxy – are expected to provide new insights into galactic evolution and black hole behavior.