A pair of black holes have been observed colliding for the first time in a discovery that could explain the formation of supermassive black holes like the one at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy.
The observations by the James Webb Space Telescope reveal a intergalactic merger between two galaxies and the areas of extremely intense gravity at their centres when the universe was just 740m years old — around 12.9 billion years ago.
Astrophysicist Roberto Maiolino told The Guardian one problem in cosmology is explaining how black holes grow so large.
"In the past we have always talked about gobbling matter very quickly or being born big. Another possibility is that they grow very fast by merging."
Until this recent observation, it was unclear whether black holes at the centres of galaxies would merge into a singular void.
Recent models suggested one of the pair would be kicked out into space to become a "wandering black hole".
The latest survey, observed in a system called ZS7, used the Webb telescope's ability to observe the far reaches of the universe and have provided the first sighting of two black holes combining.
Black holes cannot be observed directly because not even light can escape from their gravity, but they can be "observed" by the effects of their gargantuan gravitational fields on nearby matter.
In the process of merging, black holes pull in massive quantities of matter and release a lot of energy. This activity has distinctive spectral features that allow for identification by astronomers.
One of the black holes is estimated to have 50m times the mass of our Sun.
"The mass of the other black hole is likely similar, although it is much harder to measure because this second black hole is buried in dense gas," said Maiolino.
Subsequent monitoring showed that around a third of black holes detected at this time period appeared to be the process of merging.
"This could be a real channel for the rapid growth of early black holes."
Scientists hope to be able to make direct measurements of these ancient collisions in future by using the next generation of gravitational wave detectors.
Launched as the successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, Webb is the biggest and most powerful observatory ever sent into space.
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