Early Universe May Have Been Filled With Small Black Holes |
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Written by spacetravel.org
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Thursday, 07 July 2005 21:13 |
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Dr. Martin Haehnelt and his colleagues at the University of Cambridge believe that the Universe may once have been packed with small black holes. This contradicts the popular view that supermassive black holes developed in big galaxies and accumulated mass as time passed. Haehnelt says the giant black holes that exist today could have been created when small black holes which were once independent merged together.
Recent studies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) show 10 to 15 percent of this radiation became scattered when the universe was 400,000 years old. This indicates a rewarming of the Universe, which Haehnelt claims could signify a time when small black holes were commonplace. Because matter which accretes around a black hole heats up, the rewarming of the Universe could be a sign that there were many small black holes throughout the Universe.
In order for two black holes to merge, they first would have to go into orbit around each other, spiralling closer and closer together. When they eventually merged, with an enormous blast of energy, any asymmetry might cause the resulting black hole to shoot off into space. Haehnelt says that if this happened, we might sometimes find a galaxy that is missing its central supermassive black hole.
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