The first black hole collision in 2015, changed the history of astronomy. Astronomers started observing the universe in an entirely new way. The first collision while changing the way the universe was observed did not come close to changing the way we thought about black holes.
With the rapid increase of black holes that have started occurring physicists are entering an era of black hole astronomy. The latest data on black-hole-binary mergers which is a result of when two black holes spiral toward each other and collide has quadrupled the black-hole merger data available to study. With almost 50 mergers to study and dozens more expected in the next few months it astrophysicists will busy for awhile.
Astrophysics is learning so much more information because of the data they are collecting from these additional black hole merges. With these studies, secrets are being revealed of how enigmatic objects work. How black holes from and why they merge. The increase in black holes may be a way to probe evolution from the Big Bang theory to how the first stars and galaxies formed and grew.
None of the astrophysicists figured this soon after the first discovery of black hole collisions they would have so many questions answered so soon. Before being able to fully study black holes it has to be figured out how they are made. In order to study this further astrophysicists much figure out how they are made.
There are two major theories about how they are formed. One is that most black hoes originate inside a cluster of stars. The second suggests that black hole binaries start out pairs of stars in a desolate area of the galaxy. There is a tendency for theorists to advocate for one theory and from little data.
With further data, it has been shown black hole binaries are less common than expected. Despite their elusive nature, their formation is rather simple. The merging of black holes could be entirely explained by star clusters. While the simplest answer is not always thebe right one, it can be more complicated and certainly a bigger challenge. But, it is a more fun problem to address.
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