---
title: "When Two Black Holes Collided, NASA Spotted Something Very Surprising"
description: "Researchers found an incredibly rare explosion that they think was caused by two black holes merging while orbiting an even larger one."
date: "2020-06-29"
modified: "2020-06-29"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/black-holes-collided-nasa-surprising"
categories:
  - "Astrophysics"
  - "Black Holes"
  - "Science & Energy"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "black hole"
  - "black hole merger"
  - "the digest"
---

# When Two Black Holes Collided, NASA Spotted Something Very Surprising

![Researchers found an incredibly rare explosion that they think was caused by two black holes merging while orbiting an even larger one.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/black-holes-collided-nasa-surprising.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Caltech/R. Hurt \</em\>*

## Aftershock

Astronomers tracked down what they think might be an extremely rare explosion in space: a powerful flash of light that they think came from a pair of merging black holes, almost like a gigantic cosmic emergency flare.

In May 2019, NASA astronomers picked up on the telltale gravitational waves given off by a black hole merger, *[Live Science ](<https://www.livescience.com/black-holes-collision-flash-of-light.html>)*[reports](<https://www.livescience.com/black-holes-collision-flash-of-light.html>). 34 days later, an observatory noticed the explosion coming from the exact same region of the sky. If the two are actually related — the astronomers aren't yet positive — it would mean NASA has unusual new data that could help explain the mysteries of black holes.

## Tinderbox

The explosion itself [isn't unprecedented](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/flaring-object-space-two-supermassive-black-holes-colliding>), but its underlying conditions are almost impossibly rare, *Live Science* reports. Based on the observatory's data, the scientists suspect that two comparatively-small black holes fused while they were both orbiting a supermassive black hole, [according to research](<https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.251102>) published Thursday in the journal *Physical Review* *Letters*.

The force of that merger, *Live Science* reports, sent the newly-merged black hole careening off, incinerating anything in the supermassive black hole's accretion disk in its wake.

## Incredible Odds

The unlikely scenario presents an opportunity for astronomers to understand how and why black holes merge — but first they have to confirm that the explosion and merger are actually related.

"This detection is extremely exciting," NASA astrophysicist Daniel Stern [said in a press release](<https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2020-120>). "There's a lot we can learn about these two merging black holes and the environment they were in based on this signal that they sort of inadvertently created."

**READ MORE:** [Scientists spot flash of light from colliding black holes. But how?](<https://www.livescience.com/black-holes-collision-flash-of-light.html>) \[*Live Science*\]

**More on black holes:** *[Astronomers Find Nearest Black Hole to Earth, and It’s Strange](<https://futurism.com/astronomers-find-nearest-black-hole-earth>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)