Black Holes Go "Mano A Mano"
6 Oct 2009, 17:00 UTC
A galaxy about 330 million light years from Earth.
* NGC 6240 is a galaxy that contains two supermassive black holes in the process of merging
* Scientists think the merger began about 30 million years ago and will conclude some tens or hundreds of millions of years in the future
* Understanding what happens when black holes merge is an open and active area of current astrophysics
Scientists think these black holes are in such close proximity because they are in the midst of spiraling toward each other - a process that began about 30 million years ago. It is estimated that the two black holes will eventually drift together and merge into a larger black hole some tens or hundreds of millions of years from now.
Note: All formatting and links have been removed - click title or image to see full article.
