[AstroNet] Discovery of a triple supermassive black hole by South African and international

[Sam Rametse]

Discovery of a triple supermassive black hole by South African and
international scientists



25 June 2014



SKA SA Project Director Bernie Fanaroff today congratulated Cape Town
astronomer Roger Deane and the team of SKA SA-funded researchers who have
discovered a triple supermassive black hole system. Four South African
institutions (the Universities of Cape Town and the Western Cape, as well
as Rhodes University and SKA South Africa) are represented by the research
team, which is a very positive confirmation of the dynamic and significant
radio astronomy which has developed rapidly in South Africa. The discovery
demonstrates that South Africa has the scientific and technical expertise
to be a world leader in radio astronomy and to contribute directly to
gravitational wave experiments that will provide fundamental insights not
only to astronomy, but also more broadly to physics.



Multiple supermassive black hole systems are thought to have a significant
impact on the way galaxies evolve, particularly through their impact on
stars and gas as they spiral in towards one another. When these black holes
get very close to one another they are expected to emit gravitational
waves. Einstein predicted these ripples in space-time a century ago and
MeerKAT and the SKA have been designed to detect them.



Although they were predicted theoretically, these exotic back hole systems
have remained elusive for decades. This discovery suggests that they are
more common than previous observations have shown and predicts that the
radio telescopes we are building here in South Africa and Africa will be
able to discover many more. This highlights the high-impact science that
will be done with the African VLBI Network (AVN), the planned radio
telescope comprised of an array of converted telecommunication dishes. It
also connects the type of science done with VLBI arrays with the
experiments to be performed with MeerKAT and eventually with the SKA.



Issued by

SKA SA

+27 21 506 7300
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