---
title: "When Galaxies Merge, The Black Holes In Their Hearts Fuse Together"
description: "New research reveals that when two galaxies merge, the black holes at their centers merge, which could explain how some black holes grow so large."
date: "2018-11-07"
modified: "2018-11-07"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/galaxies-merge-black-holes-hearts-fuse"
categories:
  - "Astrophysics"
  - "Black Holes"
  - "Science & Energy"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "hubble space telescope"
  - "the digest"
  - "university of maryland"
  - "W. M. Keck Observatory"
---

# When Galaxies Merge, The Black Holes In Their Hearts Fuse Together

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/when-galaxies-merge-the-black-holes-in-their-hearts-fuse-together.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: University of Maryland / Eureka Scientific\</em\>*

## Come Together

Moving in with a romantic partner is a big step, even for galaxies.

According to new research**,** when two galaxies merge, the black holes in their hearts fuse together. That not only sounds vaguely romantic, but could also explain how certain black holes grow so large.

## Black Hole Sun

For the [study](<https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0652-7>), which was published Wednesday in the journal *Nature*, a team of researchers used Hawaii's W.M. Keck Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope to probe the centers of merging galaxies. They found that the black holes at the galaxies' hearts first drew close before merging into a single black hole.

"Seeing the pairs of merging galaxy nuclei associated with these huge black holes so close together was pretty amazing," said lead researcher Michael Koss, a scientist at astrophysics research organization Eureka Scientific, in a [press release](<https://cmns.umd.edu/news-events/features/4268>). "In our study, we see two galaxy nuclei right when the images were taken."

https://youtu.be/Cm5C8mWWRIA

## Galaxy Quest

According to the researchers, the findings likely foreshadow the future of our own galaxy, the Milky Way, which astronomers predict will merge with the nearby Andromeda galaxy in a few billion years.

We'll probably be long gone, but it's nice to think that our galactic home will finally find its soul mate.

**READ MORE: [Pairs of Black Holes at Centers of Merging Galaxies](<https://cmns.umd.edu/news-events/features/4268>)** \[University of Maryland\]

***More on galactic black holes: [New Image Confirms a Black Hole Is Swallowing Our Galaxy](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/black-hole-milky-way>)***

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)