Simulation reveals light-bending moves of black holes | Watch video

Black holes are among the most enigmatic and awe-inspiring objects in the cosmos, possessing such intense gravitational fields that nothing, not even light, can escape their grasp beyond a certain point called the event horizon.

This captivating NASA visualization showcases the intricate light-bending moves performed by a pair of orbiting supermassive black holes. These colossal cosmic entities, each boasting a mass millions of times that of our Sun, engage in an enchanting pas de deux, dramatically distorting and redirecting the light emanating from their surrounding maelstroms of hot gas known as accretion disks.

When observed from near the orbital plane, the accretion disks adopt a characteristic double-humped appearance. However, as one black hole traverses in front of the other, the gravitational influence of the foreground black hole transforms it into a swiftly changing sequence of arcs. These captivating distortions unfold as light from both accretion disks navigates the intricate fabric of space and time and time near the black holes.

"We're seeing two supermassive black holes, a larger one with 200 million solar masses and a smaller companion weighing half as much. These are the kinds of black hole binary systems where we think both members could maintain accretion disks lasting millions of years," said Jeremy Schnittman, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who created the visualization.

Video Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Jeremy Schnittman and Brian P. Powell

The enthralling visualization not only showcases the mesmerizing light-bending effects but also incorporates other intricate details to enhance our understanding of these cosmic marvels.

The accretion disks sport different colors, red and blue, to facilitate the tracking of the light sources. According to NASA, this color choice not only aids in visualization but also mirrors reality. Hotter gas emits light closer to the blue end of the spectrum, and material orbiting smaller black holes experiences stronger gravitational effects, resulting in higher temperatures. For such supermassive black holes, both accretion disks would emit most of their light in the ultraviolet (UV) range, with the blue disk exhibiting a slightly higher temperature.

When viewed nearly edgewise, the accretion disks exhibit more brightness on one side. This distortion is a result of the gravitational influence exerted by the black holes, which alters the paths of light emitted from different regions of the disks.

The NASA simulation also depicts a subtler phenomenon known as relativistic aberration. As the black holes approach the viewer, they appear smaller in size, but as they move away, they seem larger.