Indian researchers have discovered three supermassive black holes from three galaxies that together form a triple active galactic nucleus. This is a solid region at the center of a newly discovered galaxy that has a much higher-than-normal luminosity.
This rare occurrence in our near universe, ideal for detecting the majority of supermassive black holes and increases the chances of detecting such rare events.
Supermassive black holes are difficult to detect because they do not emit any kind of light, but they can manifest their presence by being integrated with their surroundings. When dust and gas from the surroundings fall on such a supermassive black hole, some of its mass is swallowed up by the black hole. But some of this mass is converted into energy and emitted as electromagnetic radiation, which makes the black hole appear very bright.
A team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics jointly studied the unusual emission from the center of NGC 7734, a known interacting galaxy, and a large bright clump along the northern arm of NGC 7733. Their investigation revealed that this clump is moving at a different speed than the galaxy NGC 7733.
The scientists also meant here that this clump was not part of NGC 7733, but a small, separate galaxy behind the northern arm. They named this galaxy as NGC 7733N. The study, published as an article in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.
