Imaging compact supermassive binary black holes with Very Long Baseline Interferometry

Details Imaging compact supermassive binary black holes with Very Long Baseline Interferometry Imaging compact supermassive binary black holes with Very Long Baseline Interferometry

Apr 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007iaus..238..269t&link_type=abstract

Black Holes from Stars to Galaxies -- Across the Range of Masses. Edited by V. Karas and G. Matt. Proceedings of IAU Symposium #

Computer Science

Scientific paper

Given that most galaxies harbor supermassive black holes at their centers, and that galaxy mergers are common, binary black holes should likewise be common. Yet very few systems have been found, perhaps because they proceed rapidly to parsec-scale separations which cannot be resolved by current X-ray or optical telescopes. Fortunately, in the case where both black holes are radio loud, they can be imaged using Very Long Baseline Interferometry. An understanding of the evolution and formation of these systems is important for an understanding of the evolution and formation of galaxies in general. We report on the discovery of a supermassive binary black-hole (SBBH) system in the radio galaxy 0402+379, with a projected separation between the two black holes of just 7.3 pc. This is the most compact SBBH pair yet found by more than two orders of magnitude. These results are based upon multi-frequency imaging using the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) which reveal two compact, variable, flat-spectrum, active nuclei within the elliptical host galaxy of 0402+379. Multi-epoch observations from the VLBA also provide constraints on the total mass and dynamics of the system. The two nuclei appear stationary while the jets emanating from the weaker of the two nuclei appear to move out and terminate in bright hot spots. The discovery of this system has implications for the number of compact binary black holes that might be sources of gravitational radiation. The VLBI Imaging and Polarimetry Survey (VIPS) currently underway should discover several more SBBHs.

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