• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
First ever ‘triple black hole’ discovered as scientists explain what it means

Home> News> Science

Updated 15:11 24 Oct 2024 GMT+1Published 15:10 24 Oct 2024 GMT+1

First ever ‘triple black hole’ discovered as scientists explain what it means

It is the first of its kind that scientists have ever laid eyes on

Tom Earnshaw

Tom Earnshaw

Featured Image Credit: Jorge Lugo/MIT/Getty Stock Images

Topics: Space, Technology, Weird, Education, Science

Tom Earnshaw
Tom Earnshaw

Tom joined LADbible Group in 2024, currently working as SEO Lead across all brands including LADbible, UNILAD, SPORTbible, Tyla, UNILAD Tech, and GAMINGbible. He moved to the company from Reach plc where he enjoyed spells as a content editor and senior reporter for one of the country's most-read local news brands, LancsLive. When he's not in work, Tom spends his adult life as a suffering Manchester United supporter after a childhood filled with trebles and Premier League titles. You can't have it all forever, I suppose.

X

@TREarnshaw

Advert

Advert

Advert

Scientists in the US have discovered a first of its kind 'triple black hole' that has left boffins rather surprised given they had no idea it could even exist.

Usually, black holes come in pairs - that is, a black hole with one other object, with the two orbiting each other and slowly being dragged together over long periods of time.

Cosmic objects such as a star, or even another black hole, are what are usually seen alongside a black hole when they are discovered or monitored by astronomers.

Advert

But that isn't the only way they can work, with this recent discovery serving as evidence of that.

What is the triple black hole discovery?

Officially dubbed a 'black hole triple', it isn't three black holes - that would put even the most extreme sci-fi filmmakers into a nervous sweat.

In a study appearing this week in Nature, physicists at MIT and Caltech have revealed that they have observed the phenomenon for the first time - however, it was completely by chance.

Advert

But what is it? Well, the new find sees a central black hole that is actually part way through consuming a small, nearby star that’s spiralling in very close to the black hole, every six and a half days.

This is where things get surprising, with a second star also appearing to be circling the black hole, but at a much greater distance.

The physicists estimate this far-off companion is orbiting the black hole every 70,000 years; a huge difference to the other star doing the rounds once a week or so.

An illustration of the 'black hole triple' with two stars orbiting it (Jorge Lugo / MIT)
An illustration of the 'black hole triple' with two stars orbiting it (Jorge Lugo / MIT)

How did the triple black hole happen?

At this stage, scientists are questioning how the black hole is able to keep a gravitational pull on an object so far away, with experts asking about the origins of the black hole itself.

Advert

"Black holes are thought to form from the violent explosion of a dying star — a process known as a supernova, by which a star releases a huge amount of energy and light in a final burst before collapsing into an invisible black hole," MIT says.

The belief is that the black hole was formed as a result of a typical supernova; which is scientific speech for a powerful and luminous explosion of a star.

The explosion may have essentially booted the outer star away all those years ago.

Humanity loves black hole chatter (Getty Stock Images)
Humanity loves black hole chatter (Getty Stock Images)

'Super exciting evolution'

“We think most black holes form from violent explosions of stars, but this discovery helps call that into question,” says study author Kevin Burdge, a Pappalardo Fellow in the MIT Department of Physics.

Advert

"This system is super exciting for black hole evolution, and it also raises questions of whether there are more triples out there."

On the two stars orbiting the black hole, Burge says it is 'almost certainly not a coincidence or accident'.

"We’re seeing two stars that are following each other because they’re attached by this weak string of gravity." he said.

"So this has to be a triple system."

  • Scientists may have discovered biggest ever black hole in the universe
  • UK scientists have successfully created the world's first 'black hole bomb'
  • James Webb Space Telescope discovers first of its kind planet as scientists ask 'what else is out there'
  • Scientists make model of 'black hole bomb' that could release more energy than 'a trillion nukes'

Choose your content:

17 mins ago
an hour ago
2 hours ago
  • Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesChip Somodevilla/Getty Images
    17 mins ago

    Why people thought Donald Trump had died as sick rumour went viral

    The great internet death hoax claimed the President of the United States

    News
  • Women's Super LeagueWomen's Super League
    an hour ago

    Female rugby player immediately sent off after comment she made to male referee

    Sinead Peach was sent packing after riling up the referee

    News
  • Facebook/Travis DeckerFacebook/Travis Decker
    an hour ago

    Police make worrying discovery in hunt for dad suspected of killing three daughters

    Authorities have conducted extensive searches for Travis Decker, 33, over the last three months

    News
  • Ministerio de Cultura de PerúMinisterio de Cultura de Perú
    2 hours ago

    Violent history of uncontacted tribe forced to make worrying move as experts issue warning

    The Indigenous Mashco Piro are considered as one of the largest uncontacted group in the world

    News