A pair of black holes orbits each other at a distance of four billion light years from Earth, located at the center of the galaxy OJ 287. The smaller of the two black holes was recently confirmed by NASA’s Tess satellite, which detected a sudden increase in brightness indicating its presence. This outburst occurs when the smaller black hole hawks a large slice of gas surrounding the larger one.
In 1982, astronomers from Turku discovered the two black holes in OJ 287, but confirmation of their existence only came recently with Tess’s observation of a burst of radiation from the smaller black hole in November 2021. This event was predicted by Pauli Pihajoki in his dissertation in 2014 and confirmed his theory. The brief brightening of the smaller black hole was captured by Tess and NASA’s Swift telescope, confirming the existence of the pair of black holes in OJ 287.
The discovery of the smaller black hole is significant as it provides direct evidence of the double black hole system that had been hypothesized by researchers for years. Professor Mauri Valtonen, who proposed this idea in 1974, was proven correct with this observation. The outburst from the smaller black hole lasts for 12 hours, during which time OJ 287 appears yellowish instead of its normal red color, indicating its dominance over the larger one’s light emissions.
Direct imaging of these black holes is challenging due to their vast distance from Earth; however, detecting gravitational waves from this system may provide more insights into its dynamics. OJ 287 is considered a potential source of gravitational waves that can be detected using methods that measure pulsar signals in our Milky Way galaxy. While there have not been enough observations to detect these gravitational waves yet, OJ 287 is believed to be a significant producer of such signals in the sky.
In conclusion, NASA’s Tess satellite has confirmed the existence
