Timing of Black Hole Dance Revealed by NASA Spitzer Space Telescope

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBE8qBtQMuA

https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23687

Two massive black holes are locked in a dance at the center of the OJ 287 galaxy. The larger black hole is surrounded by disk of gas; it is also orbited by a smaller black hole that collides with the disk, producing a flare brighter than 1 trillion stars. But because the system's complex physics affects the smaller black hole's orbit, the flares occur irregularly. Scientists used NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to detect one of these bright flashes on July 31, 2019, confirming that they can now anticipate the timing of these flares to within four hours using a detailed model of the system.

In the second half of the video, the animated diagram on the left illustrates the orbit of the smaller black hole (the red dot) around the larger black hole (the stationary white dot) and its collisions with the disk of gas (the pink line), which occur twice per orbit. The years of the collisions are indicated below the diagram and in the graphic on the right shows, dating to 1886.

After more than 16 years of operations in space, Spitzer was retired on Jan. 30, 2020.


PIA23687: Animation of Black Hole Disk Flare in OJ 287

https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23687

This animation shows two massive black holes in the OJ 287 galaxy.

Click here for animation

This animation shows two massive black holes in the OJ 287 galaxy. The smaller black hole orbits the larger one, which remains stationary in the animation and is surrounded by a disk of gas. When the smaller black hole crashes through the disk, it produces a flare brighter than 1 trillion stars. But the smaller black hole's orbit is elongated and moving relative to the disk, causing the flares to occur irregularly.