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Two Giant Black Holes Collided in Deep Space and Formed Something That Challenges the Known Laws of Physics. The Discovery Surprises Even the Scientists Involved in the Research.
The idea of black holes already seems absurd in itself. Even Albert Einstein, whose theory of relativity predicted their existence, refused to believe they were real. But now, scientists have found evidence of something even harder to explain: an extreme collision between two massive black holes that may rewrite everything we know about space.
The Record-Breaking Fusion
The event was identified as GW231123. According to researchers, it is the largest black hole merger ever recorded. The resulting black hole is about 225 times the mass of the Sun. To give you an idea, the previous record was 140 solar masses.
The data was presented by a consortium of physicists associated with LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, which has facilities in the U.S. The merger was detected by gravitational waves — cosmic tremors predicted by Einstein in 1916 and recorded for the first time nearly a century later.
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An Event in a Fraction of a Second
Detection happened in November 2023. The signal lasted less than a second, but it was enough for scientists to identify the properties of the original black holes. One had a mass of about 137 solar masses. The other, 103.
They were spinning around each other like fighters about to collide. And when they collided, they created a merger so monstrous that many researchers began to question whether it was even possible to occur naturally.
A Challenge for Astrophysics
Black holes this large conflict with standard models of physics. “They are forbidden by standard stellar evolution models,” explained Mark Hannam from LIGO. According to him, there is no clear explanation for the formation of such massive objects by traditional means.
Normally, very large stars explode in supernovae called “pair-instability supernovae.” In these cases, the explosion is so intense that nothing remains — not even a black hole.
If the models are correct, then these black holes shouldn’t even exist. Therefore, the event represents a significant problem for understanding the formation of these objects.
A Gap or an Observation Error?
Some scientists question whether the so-called “upper mass gap” really exists. This gap refers precisely to the mass range in which it is believed that black holes cannot be formed by stellar evolution.
Cole Miller from the University of Maryland, who did not participate in the research, commented that the idea may just be a flaw in human observations. But he acknowledges that there are those who strongly defend this theory, even without consensus.
Mergers Within Mergers?
Another explanation considered is that these giant black holes did not arise from a single star, but from the merger of other smaller black holes. According to Hannam, this could explain the absurdly large masses observed in this case.
It’s as if one black hole swallowed another, which had already swallowed another, in a cascade effect. Even so, it is a rare and difficult scenario to confirm.
Spinning Almost at the Speed of Light
Besides the size, another factor that surprised researchers was the rotation speed of the black holes. One spins at 90% of the maximum possible speed. The other, at 80%.
In comparison to Earth, this rotation is 400,000 times faster. This makes the signal extremely difficult to interpret, according to LIGO scientists.
Charlie Hoy from the University of Portsmouth explained that this rotation is at the limit allowed by Einstein’s theory of relativity. Therefore, the case serves as a basis for developing new theoretical tools.
We Are Just Beginning
Researchers are expected to present the complete study data this week during the GR-Amaldi conference in Glasgow.
According to Gregorio Carullo from the University of Birmingham, it will still take years for the scientific community to understand everything behind this event.
For now, what is known is that the universe has just presented a new mystery — and perhaps one of the biggest so far.
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