TAG: GS-1: GEOGRAPHY
THE CONTEXT: Scientists have discovered a “black hole triplet” in space for the first time in a new study.
EXPLANATION:
Why in News?
- A “black hole triple” system has recently been discovered, in which a central black hole swallows a nearby star while another star orbits farther away, providing new insight into black hole formation.
- Located about 8,000 light-years away, this triple system is known as V404 Cygni, which contains one of the oldest known black holes, nine times the mass of the Sun.
- Unlike many black holes, which form through supernova explosions that scatter nearby objects, V404 Cygni likely emerged from a “failed supernova.” This process is called direct collapse, in which a massive star collapses into a black hole without exploding, resulting in a gentle formation that keeps nearby objects in orbit. The distant star in this system orbits every 70,000 years, while the nearer star orbits every 6.5 days, but is slowly being swallowed up by the black hole.
- This observation implies that other binary systems discovered before may have once been triples, with the black hole later swallowing one of its members.
About Black Hole:
- Black holes are extraordinarily dense objects with gravity so strong that not even light can escape, making it difficult to spot them.
- They are formed when a massive star collapses in on itself at the end of its life, creating an incredibly dense object with a gravitational pull that is so strong that it warps space-time around it.
Types of Black Holes:
- Stellar Black Hole:It is formed by the collapse of a single massive star.
- Intermediate Black Hole:Their masses are between 100 and 100,000 times that of the sun.
- Supermassive Black Hole:Their masses ranging from millions to billions of times that of the sun, found at the centres of most galaxies including our own Milky Way galaxy.
SOURCE:
Spread the Word
