Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are the churning engines of galaxies, but astrophysicists aren’t exactly sure how two of them merge. While evidence suggests this occurs, we’ve never seen a merger ...

Dark matter, the most mysterious "stuff" in the universe, may be a sort of cosmic matchmaker, allowing supermassive black holes to overcome a final hurdle before colliding and merging into one.

Simulation of the light emitted by a supermassive black hole binary system where the surrounding gas is optically thin (transparent). Viewed from 72 degrees inclination, or partially angled above the ...

This particular pair, each more massive than 800 million Suns, lies in a galaxy 2.5 billion light-years away. The galaxy itself is a merger remnant — all that’s left after two galaxies, each hosting a ...

Two black holes are entwined in a gravitational tango in this artist's conception. Supermassive black holes at the hearts of galaxies are thought to form through the merging of smaller, yet still ...

Astronomers have finally spotted a pair of supermassive black holes headed for an almighty smash-up, though whether they ever will collide remains to be seen. The giant black holes are around 2.5 ...

Researchers have found a link between some of the largest and smallest objects in the cosmos: supermassive black holes and dark matter particles. Their new calculations reveal that pairs of ...