Black Holes May Approach the Speed of Light After Colliding Into One Another

Amaze Lab

There’s a lot we still don’t know about black holes, but now experts say they’re zeroing in on just how fast these cosmic bodies can move through space. When black holes collide, they don’t just sit there at their point of contact.

Transcript

00:00 There's a lot we still don't know about black holes, but now experts say they're

00:06 zeroing in on just how fast these cosmic bodies can move through space.

00:11 When black holes collide, they don't just sit there at their point of contact.

00:14 Remember, black holes have incredible mass, and despite still being quite mysterious,

00:18 they still adhere to the laws of physics.

00:20 Mostly.

00:21 Meaning when two of them collide, they can be sent careening through the cosmos, and

00:25 experts say that recoil can approach the speed of light.

00:28 The researchers used a series of computer simulations to get their results, eventually

00:32 figuring out the upper limits of black hole speed.

00:35 With the researchers writing, they can reach speeds upwards of 28,562 ± 342 km/s, or just

00:43 under 10% the speed of light after a merger.

00:46 That's faster than five times previous estimates.

00:49 So far, astronomers have only ever detected one black hole they believe was the result

00:53 of emerging recoil, and it was traveling at 1,542 km/s.

00:58 For reference, the fastest object ever created by human hands is the Parker Solar Probe,

01:03 which is moving at a comparatively paltry 163 km/s.

01:08 [music]

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