--- title: "Astrophysicist Says That Supermassive Black Holes May Have “Friends”" description: "Oh my god, y'all — the supermassive black holes at the heart of galaxies like our Milky Way may have BFFs." date: "2021-12-20" modified: "2021-12-20" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/astrophysicist-supermassive-black-holes-friends" categories: - "Astrophysics" - "Black Holes" - "Space" tags: - "astrophysics" - "galaxies" - "supermassive black holes" - "the digest" --- # Astrophysicist Says That Supermassive Black Holes May Have “Friends” ![Oh my god, y'all — the supermassive black holes at the heart of galaxies like our Milky Way may have BFFs.]() *\Image: ESO/M. Kornmesser/Futurism\* ## But Bestie! Oh my god, y'all — the supermassive black holes at the heart of galaxies like our Milky Way may have BESTIES. As researchers at the University of California Los Angeles [announced today](), there's new evidence to suggest that Sgr A\* — the supermassive black hole at the center of our home galaxy — may have a "friend," or neighboring black hole that orbits it. But first, let's back up to a larger astrophysics theory to get the full picture of this galactic bromance. Nobody is exactly sure, UCLA astrophysicist Smadar Naoz wrote in the announcement, why most galaxies revolve around supermassive black holes like Sgr A\*. Noaz's and her team's theory is that they do so because we are orbiting not one but *two* black holes that may be in similar formations to binary star systems. The prevailing concept behind galaxy formation is that way back, around 100 million years into the universe's existence, when the first stars began dying, their deaths also created the first black holes, whose gravitational pulls were so dense that they became the center of "modern" galaxies. Galaxies evolved, Naoz wrote, by colliding and merging with each other — and those collisions resulted in supermassive black holes that are exponentially denser than our Sun. ## Dynamic Duo But what if, instead of just creating *one* black hole around which galaxies formed, these intergalactic mergers and acquisitions resulted in *two —* one supermassive, and one smaller? Naoz wrote that there's no way our galaxy is host to an orbiting pair of supermassive black holes because, as they study a star called SO-2 that orbits the black hole at the heart of the Milky Way every 16 years, the scientists who've been studying supermassive black holes since their existence was confirmed more than 20 years ago would have found it by now. "But that doesn’t mean that a smaller companion black hole cannot still hide there," she wrote, adding that it's possible Sgr A\*'s smaller friend "may not alter the orbit of SO-2 in a way we can easily measure." While it's just a theory for now, this insight into galactic formation and its symbiotic relationship with these gigantic atom-eating celestial bodies could change the game when it comes to how we study black holes, both supermassive and otherwise. And if nothing else, it's nice to know that even black holes may not be alone in the universe. **READ MORE:** "[Supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy may have a friend]()" \[*UCLA*\] **More on black holes:** *[Uh Oh, Turns Out the Universe Might Be Making Black Holes Even Bigger]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()