Black Hole Threesome

Scientists model a collision between three massive black holes

By Gregory Mone Posted 04.09.2008 at 7:58 am 2 Comments

Black Hole Threesome RIT

What's cooler than a black hole? Two of them, rotating around and then crashing into one another. And what could be more entertaining than that cataclysmic cosmic dance? Why, one more, of course.

A team of scientists at the Rochester Institute of Technology has simulated the merger of three black holes. The group, which previously produced a breakthrough simulation of a black hole duet, has now used a supercomputer to model the evolution, orbit and collision of three matter-swallowing monsters. The new paper, which will be published in Physical Review D, also details the specific gravitational signal that this mix-up should produce. Ideally, gravity wave detectors like LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory) and the planned Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, LISA, will be able to pick up this triplet signal, and demonstrate that the enormous collisions actually happen in the universe.

Check out the simulations here.

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2 Comments

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coolguy566

04/10/08 at 9:35 pm

man thats wired and scarry to three black holes colliding that might not be good for the planets around it colliding three black holes could mean that it could be bigger and stronger then a regular black hole

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imaduck

04/14/08 at 9:31 pm

Well yes, they would be "bigger and stronger" than a single black hole. However, any planets orbiting these types of systems would probably have already had their life wiped out from the supernova that occurred when the black holes formed.

An interesting side note, however, is that the supermassive black holes at the center of the galaxy (millions or billions times the mass of our sun and the black holes being discussed in this article), are believed to form from these type of mergers, hence why this research is so important. If you want to talk about big, strong black holes, these are the guys to look at. However, since most stars like our own are not losing angular momentum, we will simply orbit the supermassive black hole in the center of our galaxy indefinitely, instead of being consumed by it. The only stars/planets that would be at risk are those who were really close to the black holes to begin with.