This pair of merging black holes is the closest to Earth we've ever found - Space.com

A pair of supermassive black holes that will soon become one has been discovered hiding in a nearby galaxy.

The two black holes dance around each other at the center of the galaxy NGC 7727, located some 89 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Aquarius.

The black hole couple, which will merge into one giant black hole 250 million years from now, escaped detection for so long because it somehow doesn't emit much X-ray radiation, the usual giveaway indicating the presence of black holes.

The previous record holder for the closest known black hole couple lies 470 million light-years away from Earth, more than five times farther than the newly discovered duo.

The larger of the two black holes has a mass of almost 154 million suns!

The discovery, scientists said, provides a glimpse into the formation of very large supermassive black holes, but also suggests that many more black holes and merging pairs might be lurking in other nearby galaxies. .

"Our finding implies that there might be many more of these relics of galaxy mergers out there and they may contain many hidden massive black holes that still wait to be found," said Voggel.

"It could increase the total number of supermassive black holes known in the local universe by 30%."!

Scientists expect to supercharge the search for supermassive black holes and black hole pairs in the upcoming years with the completion of ESO's Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) in northern Chile, which is currently expected in 2024. .