Northwestern study shows how black holes can spin together in a Valentine's embrace
EVANSTON, Ill. (CBS) -- Love and black holes generally do not go together.
Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun"— with its references to summer stench, a dead-looking sky, and times being gone for honest men sometimes far too long for snakes — is a classic, but not a slow dance number for a wedding reception. A person described as an emotional black hole is universally described as a person with whom relationships are best avoided.
But it may be time to give a second look at the concepts of love and black holes — in this case, actual black holes out in space. In a study announced just in time for Valentine's Day, Northwestern University astrophysicists found that binary black holes — when they form in crowded clusters of stars — align their spins, merge together, and end up looking like a cute little heart as their streams of debris glide about.
Stars have to be sacrificed for this to happen. Simulations by Northwestern scientists showed the black holes black holes gliding around the discotheque of space end up slamming into massive stars.
The black holes rip the stars apart and consume their stellar debris—becoming more massive, Northwestern explained.
The additional mass increases the black holes' gravitational pull, and their spins — which start out random and chaotic — end up realigning themselves into the same direction as they orbit one another, Northwestern said.
Northwestern said the result is the black holes' debris tails spinning into celestial harmony — and looking like a heart with cartoon eyes.
While the visual is striking when seen in simulation, the study has also brought about an important new understanding about the behavior of black holes.
"This discovery challenges the common belief that black holes formed in star clusters always have randomly distributed spins." Northwestern physics and astronomy grad student Fulya Kıroğlu, who led the study, said in a news release.
The study will be published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
