(ORDO NEWS) — For the first time, astronomers have found evidence of two dwarf galaxies colliding with giant black holes. In fact, they found not one pair, but two.
The first pair of merging dwarf galaxies is in the Abell 133 cluster, about 760 million light-years from Earth. and the other is in the Abell 1758S galaxy cluster, which is about 3.2 billion light-years away.
It is hoped that these observations and further research will reveal some of the secrets of the very early universe – a time when these colliding pairs of dwarf galaxies with black holes were much more common.
“Astronomers have found many examples of black holes on collision courses into large galaxies that are relatively close, but finding them in dwarf galaxies is much more difficult and has so far been unsuccessful,” said University of Alabama astrophysicist Marko Micic, who led the study .
What makes these observations challenging is that the smaller sizes of these galaxy pairs mean that their fainter light signatures are harder to see.
These galaxies contain stars with a total mass of less than 3 billion solar masses, while our Milky Way contains approximately 60 billion suns.
To make the discovery, the researchers combined data from several telescopes: X-ray results from Chandra, infrared results from WISE, and optical results from the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope.
Of decisive importance were the X-ray data, which captured the stronger signals emitted by pairs of black holes.
The Abell 133 merger appears to have gone much further so much so that it only has one moniker, Mirabilis.
This is after an endangered species of hummingbird known for its very long tail, in reference to the long tail observed around this pair of galaxies caused by the collision.
As for Abell 1758S, the dwarf galaxies did not coalesce to the same extent and were given two nicknames: Elstir and Wentheil (after Proust’s In Search of Lost Time artists).
It appears that these galaxies and their black holes are currently bridged by stars and gas and have not merged to the same extent.
“By using these systems as analogs to systems in the early universe, we can delve deeper into questions about the first galaxies, their black holes, and collision-induced star formation,” says astrophysicist Olivia Holmes of the University of Alabama.
Over billions of years, these smaller, colliding galaxies are believed to have merged into the larger galaxies (including the Milky Way) that now dominate the universe. Researchers call them our “galactic ancestors.”
We may even be able to get an idea of how our own galaxy came into being and evolved to the stage it is in today. There are various inconsistencies regarding our home galaxy that still need to be resolved.
Now that astronomers have seen these binary active galactic nuclei (DAGNs), they can verify that they are indeed what they are and collect more information about them as our telescopes and image analysis technology continue to improve.
“Following observations of these two systems will allow us to study processes that are critical to understanding galaxies and their black holes as babies,” says astrophysicist Jimmy Irwin of the University of Alabama.
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