Scientists Measure “Kick” of Newly Formed Black Hole
An international team of researchers has, for the first time, directly measured the powerful recoil – dubbed a “cosmic kick” – experienced by a black hole immediately after its formation through the merger of two smaller black holes. This breakthrough provides unprecedented insight into one of the universe’s most energetic events.
The team reconstructed the three-dimensional motion of the collision, which occurred 2.4 billion years ago, by meticulously analyzing gravitational waves – ripples in spacetime. The event, designated GW190412, was initially detected in 2019 by the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave observatories. It involved the collision of black holes with masses 8 and 30 times that of our Sun.
The resulting, larger black hole was propelled into space at a velocity of tens of kilometers per second due to this “kick.” Measuring this recoil has long been a goal for physicists, as it confirms theoretical predictions about black hole mergers.
Professor Juan Calderon-Bustillo explained the precision of the measurement by comparing it to listening to an orchestra. “Different listeners hear different combinations of instruments. We analyzed the mixture of signals within the gravitational waves to pinpoint the source and determine the direction of the black hole’s movement.”
Researchers emphasize the meaning of reconstructing the full 3D movement of an event billions of light-years away using only spacetime fluctuations.This demonstrates the immense potential of gravitational wave astronomy.
Published in Nature Astronomy, the findings pave the way for further study of black hole mergers. Scientists hope to utilize this method to detect not only gravitational waves but also electromagnetic signals,like light,emitted during these events. This combined approach could usher in a new era of revelation in our understanding of the universe.
