--- title: "Baby Black Holes May be Orbiting Supermassive Black Holes" description: "A group of scientists are suggesting that supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies are surrounded by, and devour, much smaller \"baby black holes.\"" date: "2019-11-20" modified: "2019-11-20" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/baby-black-holes-orbiting-supermassive-black-holes" categories: - "Astrophysics" - "Black Holes" - "Science & Energy" - "Space" tags: - "black hole merger" - "Black holes" - "Supermassive Black Hole" - "the digest" --- # Baby Black Holes May be Orbiting Supermassive Black Holes ![A group of scientists are suggesting that supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies are surrounded by, and devour, much smaller "baby black holes."]() *\Image: LIGO/Caltech/MIT/Sonoma State/Victor Tangermann\* ## Pac-Man Holes In July 2017, a team of astronomers [spotted signs]() of two black holes merging, a type of event that's only been identified [ten times]() so far. One of the black holes involved in the merger was seemingly larger than 50 solar masses, puzzling astronomers — how did it get so huge? Now, [according to *Astronomy*](), a group of scientists are suggesting that supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies are surrounded by much smaller "baby black holes" that consume each other while in orbit, growing each time — a "Pac-Man-like" behavior, [according to]() co-author and assistant professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology Richard O'Shaughnessy. ## Baby Black Holes Through computer simulations, the team discovered that if a series of smaller orbiting black holes were to merge with each other, the resulting black hole would be larger than 50 solar masses — a behavior that could explain the massive black hole merger spotted in July 2017. A [paper]() about the results was published in the journal *Physical Review Letters* earlier this month. "\[The research\] offers unique insight into how the centers of galaxies grow, which is of course essential to understanding how galaxies as a whole grow, which explains most of the structure in the universe," O'Shaughnessy said in a statement. **READ MORE:** [Huge black holes may have cannibalistic baby black holes orbiting around them]() \[*Astronomy*\] **More on black holes:** *[NASA Finds Supermassive Black Hole Birthing Stars at “Furious Rate”]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()