Abell 2261 May Contain Recoiling Supermassive Black Hole

Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory are searching for signs of a recoiling black hole in the core of A2261-BCG, the most massive and brightest galaxy in the giant galaxy cluster Abell 2261.

When black holes merge, they produce ripples in spacetime called gravitational waves.

If the huge amount of gravitational waves generated by such an event was stronger in one direction than another, the theory predicts that the new, even more massive black hole would have been sent careening away from the center of the galaxy in the opposite direction. This is called a recoiling black hole.

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. Image credit: NASA / CXC / University of Michigan / K. Gültekin / STScI / NAOJ / Subaru / NSF / NOAO / KPNO.

This image of Abell 2261, a galaxy cluster located 3 billion light-years away, contain X-ray data from Chandra showing hot gas pervading the cluster as well as optical data from Hubble and the Subaru Telescope that show galaxies in the cluster and in the background.

A2261-BCG (center), also known as 2MASX J17222717+3207571, is the most massive and brightest galaxy in the cluster.

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Nearly all large galaxies contain a supermassive black hole, with a mass that is millions or billions of times that of the sun in their centers.

Since the mass of a central black hole usually tracks with the mass of the galaxy itself, astronomers expect the galaxy in the center of Abell 2261 contains a supermassive black hole that rivals the heft of some of the largest known black holes in the Universe.