Linked Questions

25 votes
2 answers
1k views

Why do we believe that the super massive black holes at the centers of two merging galaxies would themselves merge?

When listening to podcasts or watching youtube videos of astronomers discussing galaxy mergers, I often hear talk about how the super massive black holes at their centers will themselves merge during ...
asgallant's user avatar
  • 561
20 votes
1 answer
3k views

Why can't supermassive black holes merge? (or can they?)

The CNet article Astronomers discover two supermassive black holes in a death spiral links to Discovery of a Close-separation Binary Quasar at the Heart of a z ~ 0.2 Merging Galaxy and Its ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 31.1k
10 votes
3 answers
2k views

How do we know that supermassive black holes can gain mass by means other than merging with other supermassive black holes?

I just stumbled across the following answer "update" from 2013: This just in, recent observations have ruled out the possibility that SMBHs gain mass only through merging with other black ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 31.1k
10 votes
1 answer
852 views

Are there galaxies with 2 or more super massive black holes orbiting each other?

We now know that most stellar systems have 2 or more stars orbiting each other. Do we know of any galaxies which have 2 or more super massive black holes orbiting each other? Is it possible?
Bingohank's user avatar
  • 455
9 votes
2 answers
576 views

How likely are planets to form after neutron star collisions?

It is well known that planetary collisions can create moons orbiting the result of the merger if they happen in the correct way, and this is how the Earth's moon is believed to have been formed. See ...
Mr. Nichan's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
498 views

Difference in energy released in stellar mass black hole merger and supermassive black hole merger

Super massive black holes are usually millions of times more massive than stellar mass black holes. I have read on SE and over internet that 3M☉ worth of energy is released in black hole mergers (not ...
Knu8's user avatar
  • 528
5 votes
1 answer
406 views

If two stars collide, what is the probability that they merge to form a single star?

After looking at What are the odds that the Sun hits another star? and answering it (crudely), now I'd like to ask the following: What is the probability that if two stars collide, their cores merge ...
WarpPrime's user avatar
  • 6,653
5 votes
1 answer
124 views

GW from merging of neutron stars and black holes

If it had been detected gravitational waves from merging of black holes (BH), and neutron stars (NS), why there are no detection of black holes merging with neutron stars? Why a BH-NS merging should ...
jonuko's user avatar
  • 53
5 votes
1 answer
159 views

What parameters determine whether galaxies colliding will result in a merger or a hit and run?

Colliding galaxies sometimes merge and sometimes pass through each other. Either way, there are huge changes as a result. What are the parameters that matter in determining whether a collision will ...
Eubie Drew's user avatar
  • 1,080
4 votes
2 answers
909 views

What would happen if a Sun-like star were to consume a Jupiter-like planet?

A substantial number of discovered exoplanet systems are likely contain more than one gas giant with distances far closer to the star than in our solar system. It is known that in solar system ...
Skyblade's user avatar
  • 143
3 votes
3 answers
3k views

How far from Betelgeuse is its habitable zone?

Betelgeuse is a red supergiant or hypergiant in the constellation Orion. It is one of the biggest and brightest stars seen from the Earth, and is expected to soon go supernova. The habitable zone, or ...
Ioannes's user avatar
  • 1,090
3 votes
2 answers
321 views

Why would the merger of spinning black holes within the accretion disk of a supermassive black hole cause them to "shoot straight up" out of the disk?

I just tried to read the new New York Times article Two Black Holes Colliding Not Enough? Make It Three which links to the new 25-June-2020 Physical Review Letter Graham et al. Candidate ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 31.1k
3 votes
0 answers
226 views

How do two supermassive black holes reach "the last parsec" in merging galaxies?

This answer to Why can't supermassive black holes merge? (or can they?) describes the barrier to merging that two supermassive black holes face when two galaxies are in the process of merging or have "...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 31.1k
2 votes
4 answers
936 views

What are the differences between astronomy and cosmology?

Are astronomy and cosmology same? If not, what are the differences? And which one is greater in terms of subject area?
S. M. JAHANGIR's user avatar
2 votes
4 answers
243 views

Milky Way Formation

Is the Milky Way a collection of merged galaxies, or has it only been one galaxy that was created from the interstellar media?
LDC3's user avatar
  • 2,036

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