ESO telescope peers into a galaxy hosting two supermassive black holes on verge of merging

The MUSE instrument on the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile has captured this view of the core of UGC 4211, a galaxy that hosts two supermassive black holes on the verge of merging.

Separated by just 750 lightyears, these two monster black holes are the closest to have been found to date using multiple wavelengths and less than half of the previous record.

The image on the left displays a classic view of this galaxy, with dust lanes blocking out the starlight. The image on the right reveals the emission of oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen in blue, green and red respectively. The red parts signify areas of star formation, and the bright white core area indicates the presence of two supermassive black holes consuming material from their environment.

MUSE, short for Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer, is a powerful instrument that can observe multiple objects at once. It is capable of taking images of galaxies and other objects in the night sky with unprecedented resolution. It can also measure the velocity of stars and gas clouds and can detect the presence of elements such as oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon.

This Picture of the Week shows a VLT view of the core of UGC 4211, a galaxy hosting two supermassive blackholes only 750 lightyears apart from each other. How do systems like this one form?Find out: 🔗 https://t.co/Ss2mDIAgmuCredit: @ESO /Koss et al. pic.twitter.com/WGwewChKaL

— ESO (@ESO) January 10, 2023

Astronomers used ESO's VLT, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), of which ESO is a partner, and other telescopes to detect the bright light produced as the two supermassive black holes engulf material in their vicinity. It is believed that the two black holes encountered one another when their host galaxies merged together. Examining this system could help us gain a better comprehension of how galaxies and their supermassive black holes develop when they come together.