'Mosh pits' in star clusters a likely source of LIGO's first black holes
Wednesday, June 15, 2016 - 15:10
in Astronomy & Space
Astrophysicists have shown their theoretical predictions last year were correct: The merger of two massive black holes detected Sept. 14, 2015, could easily have formed through dynamic interactions in the star-dense core of a globular cluster. These binary black holes are born in the cluster's chaotic 'mosh pit,' kicked out of the cluster and then eventually merge into one black hole. LIGO's first detection of colliding black holes is perfectly consistent with their model.