NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory Finds Black Hole Pair In Spiral Galaxy

In a statement from NASA, the agency announced that one of their space probes has found evidence for a pair of supermassive black holes in a spiral galaxy some 160 million light years from Earth. The discovery was made by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and is likely the result of a collision and merger of 2 galaxies over a billion years ago.

As seen in the image, which is a composite of X-rays from Chandra (blue) and optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope (gold), the spiral galaxy NGC 3393 is the home to 2 supermassive black holes. In the image the inset box shows the central region of NGC 3993 as seen by the Chandra observatory by itself.

The exact mass of the pair is not yet certain, however current estimates are that each is at least equal to the mass of a million times our own sun. Although the distance to NGC 3393 is immense, it is the closest pair of supermassive black holes found by scientists to date and the only ever found in a Spiral Galaxy. It is also the first time a pair of black holes has been found in a spiral galaxy like our Milky Way.

More details about the recent discover can be found at: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2011/n3393/