A black hole compared to Pacman swallowed a neutron star 900 million years ago and scientists say they’ve just detected the ‘belch’ it released.
Black holes are the super-dense remains of dead stars, some of which may have formed when neutron stars – the collapsed core of a giant star – collapses further.
Experts detected ripples in space and time from the cataclysmic event, which happened about 5,300 million trillion miles (8,550m tr km) away from Earth.
Researchers have long suspected such binary systems of black holes and neutron stars may exist but this is the first time they’ve captured evidence of it happening.
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A black hole compared to Pacman swallowed a neutron star 900 million years ago. Scientists have long suspected such binary systems of black holes and neutron stars may exist (artist’s impression) but this is the first time they’ve captured evidence of it happening
An international team of researchers, including from The Australian National University (ANU), in Canberra used the Ligo and Virgo gravitational wave detectors, based in the US and Europe respectively, to make the finding.
Scientists are still analysing the data to confirm the exact size of the two objects, but initial findings indicate the very strong likelihood of a black hole enveloping a neutron star.
‘About 900 million years ago, this black hole ate a very dense star, known as a neutron star, like Pac-man – possibly snuffing out the star instantly,’ Professor Susan Scott from the ANU, said in a written statement.
‘Scientists have never detected a black hole smaller than five solar masses or a neutron star larger than about 2.5 times the mass of our sun.
‘Based on this experience, we’re very confident that we’ve just detected a black hole gobbling up a neutron star.
‘However, there is the slight but intriguing possibility that the swallowed object was a very light black hole – much lighter than any other black hole we know about in the Universe. That would be a truly awesome consolation prize.’
Black holes are the super-dense remains of dead stars, some of which may have formed when neutron stars – the collapsed core of a giant star – collapses further. In April, scientists for lifted the veil on the first images ever captured of a black hole’s event horizon (pictured)
Black holes and neutron stars both form when stars die.
Black holes are so dense and their gravitational pull is so strong that no form of radiation can escape them – not even light.
They act as intense sources of gravity which hoover up dust and gas around them. Their intense gravitational pull is thought to be what stars in galaxies orbit around.
How they are formed is still poorly understood
Neutron stars are the collapsed, burnt-out cores of dead stars.
When large stars reach the end of their lives, their core will collapse, blowing off the outer layers of the star.
This leaves an extremely dense object known as a neutron star, which squashes more mass than is contained in the sun into the size of a city.
When large stars reach the end of their lives, their core will collapse, blowing off the outer layers of the star. This leaves an extremely dense object known as a neutron star, which squashes more mass than is contained in the sun into the size of a city (artists’ impression)
Scientists continue to study both phenomenon closely, as they lie on the edge of our understanding of cosmology.
They also offer the opportunity to research how fundamental forces which govern the universe, including gravity, behave in extreme conditions.
In April, scientists for lifted the veil on the first images ever captured of a black hole’s event horizon.
The team behind the Event Horizon Telescope revealed the findings from their first run of observations using a ‘virtual telescope’ built from eight radio observatories positioned at different points on the globe,
The international team has spent the last few years probing Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way, and another target called M87 in the Virgo cluster of galaxies.
While black holes are invisible by nature, the ultra-hot material swirling in their midst forms a ring of light around the perimeter that reveals the mouth of the object itself based on its silhouette. This boundary is known as the event horizon.
