Black Hole Triple System : Study
A new study says scientists have discovered a “black hole triple” in space for the first time.
- The system comprises a black hole at its centre, currently in the process of consuming a small star spiralling very close to it.
- There is also a second star, which appears to be circling the black hole but is actually far away.
- The discovery of the system, located about 8,000 light years away from Earth has raised questions about how black holes are formed.
- Many black holes discovered until now have been part of binary systems, consisting of a black hole and a secondary object (such as a star or another black hole).
- But the black hole triple not only has one star which orbits the black hole about every 6.5 days, but also a more far-off star which orbits it every 70,000 years.
- It is situated in the constellation of Cygnus, the system features one of the oldest known black holes, the V404 Cygni, which is nine times as big as the Sun in our solar system.
- V404 Cygni has two stars around it as the black hole did not arise from a supernova, which typically kicks away outer stars in the explosion.
- Instead, it was formed through another process called “direct collapse”, where the star caves in after expending all its fuel, but does not explode.
