Scientists get crucial insight into how our Milky Way will meet its end
The aftermath of a collision between two spiral galaxies that happened a billion years ago
Astronomers have made a remarkable discovery within the remnants of a cosmic collision that occurred about a billion years ago.
The celestial event involved a pair of colossal black holes hidden within the heart of NGC 7727, a galaxy formed through the merger of two spiral galaxies, situated approximately 90 million light-years away from Earth.
How was this discovery made?
This discovery was made possible by the use of the Gemini South telescope, in the Chilean Andes in South America.
The present state of NGC 7727 holds particular intrigue for astronomers, as it provides a glimpse into the future appearance of our own Milky Way.
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Our Milky Way is projected to undergo a collision with the neighboring Andromeda galaxy in roughly 4.5 billion years. Andromeda remains some 2.5 million light years apart from our home galaxy.
What this cosmic collision looks like?
The newfound pair of supermassive black holes in NGC 7727 appears to be in orbit around each other. They possess astonishing masses of 154 million times and 6.3 million times that of our Sun, respectively. These black holes are separated by about 1,600 light years, but, akin to their parent galaxies, they will eventually converge and merge.
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This merger will culminate in the creation of an even more potent supermassive black hole, combined from the masses of these two entities.
What does it speak about the host galaxies?
During the early stages of their host galaxies' merger, these dueling black holes would have incited chaos by redistributing stars and dust away from the galactic centers. These stray objects would subsequently succumb to the powerful gravitational pull of the supermassive black holes, leading to discernible alterations in the shapes of the galaxies.
NGC 7727, situated in the constellation of Aquarius, exemplifies the transformative effects of galactic collisions, having evolved into a singular, shapeless mass devoid of the distinctive features of its precursor galaxies. The once-prominent spiral arms have been erased, replaced by a state of disarray.
At least 23 stellar nurseries within this galaxy reportedly bear the potential to evolve into "globular clusters". Such aggregations consist of the tens of thousands oreven millions of stars.
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