The Doubly Warped World of Binary Black Holes

A pair of orbiting black holes millions of times the Sun’s mass perform a hypnotic dance in this NASA visualization. The movie traces how the black holes distort and redirect light emanating from the maelstrom of hot gas - called an accretion disk - that surrounds each one.
Read more: www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2...
Viewed from near the orbital plane, each accretion disk takes on a characteristic warped look. But as one passes in front of the other, the gravity of the foreground black hole transforms its partner into a rapidly changing sequence of arcs. These distortions play out as light from the accretion disks navigates the tangled fabric of space and time near the black holes.
The simulated binary contains two supermassive black holes, a larger one with 200 million solar masses and a smaller companion weighing half as much. Astronomers think this kind of black hole system is one in which both members could maintain a long-lived accretion disk.
The disks have different colors, red and blue, to make it easier to track the light sources, but the choice also reflects reality. Gas orbiting lower-mass black holes experiences stronger effects that produce higher temperatures. For these masses, both accretion disks would actually emit most of their light in the UV, with the blue disk reaching a slightly higher temperature.
Visualizations like this help scientists picture the fascinating consequences of extreme gravity’s funhouse mirror.
Seen nearly edgewise, the accretion disks look noticeably brighter on one side. Gravitational distortion alters the paths of light coming from different parts of the disks, producing the warped image. The rapid motion of gas near the black hole modifies the disk’s luminosity through a phenomenon called Doppler boosting an effect of Einstein’s relativity theory that brightens the side rotating toward the viewer and dims the side spinning away.
The movie also shows a more subtle phenomenon called relativistic aberration. The black holes appear smaller as they approach the viewer and larger when moving away.
These effects disappear when viewing the system from above, but new features emerge. Both black holes produce small images of their partners that circle around them each orbit. Looking closely, it’s clear that these images are actually edge-on views. To produce them, light from the black holes must be redirected by 90 degrees, which means we’re observing the black holes from two different perspectives - face on and edge on - at the same time. Zooming into each black hole reveals multiple, increasingly distorted images of its partner.
The visualization, created by Goddard astrophysicist Jeremy Schnittman, involved computing the path taken by light rays from the accretion disks as they made their way through the warped space-time around the black holes. On a modern desktop computer, the calculations needed to make the movie frames would have taken about a decade. So Schnittman teamed up with Goddard data scientist Brian P. Powell to use the Discover supercomputer at the NASA Center for Climate Simulation. Using just 2% of Discover’s 129,000 processors, these computations took about a day.
Astronomers expect that, one day, they’ll be able to detect gravitational waves - ripples in space-time - produced when two supermassive black holes in a system much like the one Schnittman depicted spiral together and merge.
Music credit: "Gravitational Field" from Orbit. Written and produced by Lars Leonhard. Used with permission.
Video credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Jeremy Schnittman and Brian P. Powell
Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Producer
Jeremy Schnittman (NASA/GSFC): Lead Visualizer
Brian Powell (NASA/GSFC): Visualizer
Francis Reddy (University of Maryland College Park): Science Writer
This video can be freely shared and downloaded at svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13831 . While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on stock footage may be found at svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13831 . For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines .
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[@witchdoctor6502]

I wouldn't mind having this as desktop background or screensaver

[@donnymcjonny6531]

That would be awesome

[@TheFlacker99]

@NASA Yo when can I get this as a screensaver

[@hermiliojimenez2267]

I second this!

[@richardevppro3980]

@@hermiliojimenez2267 can you download an app that lets you download from you tube? just a thought

[@richardevppro3980]

Can you download an app that lets you download from you tube? just a thought

[@thejesuschrist]

science is so awesome!

[@0turi]

hey jesus!

[@cosmosdream283]

Yes,it is..

[@foud646]

science ?

[@Eye5x5]

Yes stop fighting about how Christianity is better or if science is better they are both super cool and fascinating!

[@PlayWithAyaan]

Nature is.

[@NapaCat]

Black holes are fascinating.

[@mxbolt24]

They are everything

[@Ryo-xx1lm]

Especially if you finish inside one of them.

[@andrewguthrie2]

Everything and yet nothing.

[@Christophe38isere]

Yep, but far far away of me

[@justinus8608]

@@Christophe38isere and it's better to keep them in a distance

[@schildwaechter]

Great music as always from Lars Leonhard

[@matissoM]

Thanks! I was wondering who wrote this.

[@tritisan]

They should have given him credit. Love this stuff!

[@Ev-wj3lm]

@@tritisan "Music credit: "Gravitational Field" from Orbit. Written and produced by Lars Leonhard. Used with permission."

[@kathg1354]

Beautiful.

[@lcdvasrm]

Pure Coolness. Images/Music. Proof again that 1+1 is not just 2. (works also with rockets landing)

[@Mkkl3782]

This is mind-blowing!

[@rochelimit55555]

more like mind deflecting back and forth lol

[@jimmiejaymes]

@@rochelimit55555 HHAAAAAAAAA!!

[@chrisray1567]

This video has more of an April 20 vibe than an April 15 one.

[@timsmith6675]

Since today is my birthday, I respectfully disagree as I'm celebrating 5 days early. Lol.

[@bottlenecked]

I low key don't even comprehend this. This is beyond my comprehension but I want to learn more about it. Fantastic!

[@Catman_321]

This is why I love physics and astronomy

[@user-gn1cl9ix7p]

Can you please make an unending series of videos like this? I can't get enough.

[@ulriksharapov4259]

I love gravitational lensing so much.

[@Leha__777]

would you like to have one at home? :)

[@Vagabond-Cosmique]

@@Leha__777 I would.

[@ulriksharapov4259]

@@Leha__777 It is too expressed to get one at home :(

[@ulriksharapov4259]

Wtf did I say?

[@cffex3858]

@@Vagabond-Cosmique its easy

[@nossoovniparticular6680]

Absolutely incredible!!!

[@Meuduso1]

This is beautiful

[@LandoHitman]

Awesome visualization

[@RmaamArts]

Amazing video

[@carpemkarzi]

Very interesting video. Thanks

[@DoNortSleepIn2024]

Mesmerizing!

[@saadialsaadi418]

This is so mysterious and interesting! No wonder I love learning about astronomy!💕😊

[@foud646]

lernen ya habibi lernen allah yasir amrak, kal astronomy kal????

[@PatrickFestaPatman]

very cool video.

[@cytonicstarspren4384]

Simply awesome!!

[@user-dn1ek6yh7r]

That's beautiful, hope everybode will see it

[@aycankushchu5639]

Thank you NASA 🙏💖

[@therealghostchase]

somebody please make 10 hours of this

[@blackbke]

When theoretical physics gets real.... Amazing visualization, thank you. Imagine we would ever be able to actually see this happen for real... boy, wouldn't that be something. I mean, earthquakes, volcano's, tornado's, that's all very impressive earthly stuff, but this...this is something else :)

[@mkrd]

this would take a lot of time to actually happen, like A LOT, i am pretty sure, that this visualization is sped up. You will never see this happen in realtime.

[@robertmines5577]

@@mkrd I mean it has to happen in real time. We have direct measurements of gravitational waves that correspond to black holes crashing in to each other.

[@cornbreadfedkirkpatrick9647]

Ah, I see that Einstein and Sagan are enjoying both their theories

[@rsz90182]

Einstein was a failure in math and he is overrated.

[@HueHanaejistla]

@@rsz90182 how so

[@snowwar3602]

This is something really mind blowing 👍

[@fl570]

Fascinating.

[@tprkkc]

breathtaking...

[@existenceispainforameeseeks]

an intergalactic ballet. incredible!!

[@kitazune9950]

I don't know why but seeing them stretch makes me feel uneasy

[@mathex95]

Amazing sir, wonderful 🙏🏼🙏🏼

[@BrainlessEinstein334]

NASA I love you!

[@roseannerosie6110]

Bruhh

[@ThePigeonCompany15]

That's cool dude! We need to verify which constellation did these binary black holes are located in?

[@blockrock44]

That is so cool!

[@Subscribe_Mr]

Nice educational animation

[@twstf8905]

Word 👍

[@greggwilkerson8889]

Wonderful!

[@PurnamadaPurnamidam]

Love it

[@Iambrissia]

I love this Videos..O//O

[@EndlissMusic]

Very nice 👍

[@ElDJReturn]

Thanks for being cool NASA!

[@carolyndiaz9577]

That's really really cool...

[@penpix_]

Wow 😍

[@vojtanethio]

Everybody gangsta until black holes start dancing

[@gabrielgerez3815]

Buenísimo

[@timsmith6675]

"BOOM" Mind blown!

[@KS-mt1lb]

Looks like a trippy Winamp visualization

[@esterester7853]

Its smooth asf🦝

[@dreadlord1983]

Very cool

[@KritikX]

it reminds me of reflections in a glass ball

[@thirua.1964]

It is amazing but I didn't understand anything

[@user-dr1zh7pc7b]

Cool...

[@michelevastanojeetkunedo3812]

wonderful 😯😯

[@capability-snob]

Do they really look circular from above? I guess they must, even if lensing is happening, but it feels very... normal (:

[@RealOberonn13]

Yes they do

[@alanofthebergalan6357]

What does “above” means I wonder???

[@rochelimit55555]

I think my brain just deflects back and forth

[@Speakershocker]

WOW

[@scottbettencourt6658]

🤯

[@lans241283]

Cool

[@ndas5480]

Wow

[@H4WK6969]

i aint even gonna pretend to understand.

[@orolinc1804]

Great

[@ratuldeoun7228]

Science is so cool

[@prakash_77]

This hurts my brain 😰

[@markboomgaarden4679]

Somewhere out there is an alien looking up at that in their night sky and to then it’s just “normal”

[@zenaguislimani6254]

# CHAMP MAGNETIC 👈👍

[@ItsaDigitalHamster]

How long did this take to compute???

[@NASAGoddard]

On a modern desktop computer, the calculations needed to make the movie frames would have taken about a decade. However, using just 2% of the 129,000 processors of the Discover supercomputer at the NASA Center for Climate Simulation, these computations took about a day.

[@alexswage1853]

We seen black holes have collisions with out any electromagnetics disturbance

[@yourman8474]

wow

[@raynahgonzalez8876]

I LOVE black holes

[@omsingharjit]

It's like , fight between tiger and lion

[@rohitsawale9584]

すごいぞ！

[@roseannerosie6110]

あなたはインド人ですが、日本語で書いているので、あなたは偽物です

[@adityakshirsagar6059]

Salute interstellar movie 🔥

[@b1blancer1]

Well, we know which direction they're rotating.

[@jukiemimi8246]

Why does this remember me of Sonic heroes... Like Sonic and knuckles or even Sonic vs Eggman😂

[@afasceo-andri2885]

Gargangtua.. 😎

[@roseannerosie6110]

Nope it's not

[@allenho2778]

This is how Einstein destroyed Newton's law of universal gravitation.

[@hansenkt]

What kind of technologies were used to create this simulation? anyone know?

[@Finkelfunk]

A lot of computational power and presumably a language like MATLAB.

[@jcf20010]

@@Finkelfunk More likely Fortran.

[@KaZmuda]

🤩❤️

[@OnyxLee]

Why are they parallel to each other?

[@user-fd5rg4ce9n]

เดี๊ยวหนูขอข้อมูล พ่อจาส์วิทย์ กับ แม่แป๊ฟเปอร์ ช่วง พระอาทิตย์ ทรงรี เดินทาง เท่าไหร่ กิโลเมตร:วินาที กับ ตอน ที่ ลงโอมห์ ศูนย์กลาง กิโลเมตร:วินาที

[@rehamelgaml6906]

How will we benefit from this?

[@AbdulWasaeTariq]

😳

[@earthplusplastics]

Tars, is that you?

[@rn1024]

インターステラー２でこれ出てくるな！

[@vaporizer7]

can someone make a psytrance remix of this ? :)

[@Myname-il9vd]

Interstellars original 2007 script was gonna have at least 2 black holes, imagine if there was a scene like this

[@rsz90182]

What just happened?

[@SimbaFromThe6ix]

Space is scary...

[@kuruchicken]

何が起こってるのか教えてくれ

[@lans241283]

why are there dislikes

[@nfarnes12]

GTA load screen music

[@user-it3wd9gy3c]

ハロウィン

[@user-eg1ks1fv8m]

Так чем всё закончилось,она поглотила и все ? а вспышка сверхновой ?

[@DeadJDona]

Why they always looks like mushroom?

[@lucianobernardodiasbernard1609]

👏

[@spinmusicstudiosofficial]

This 2 black holes are really dancing

[@dasavge14]

wiat what happens if they collide do they become a bigger blackhole or do they make like a pulsar or something like that

[@Bacony_Cakes]

Yes, but do black holes make toilet flushing noises?

[@cornbreadfedkirkpatrick9647]

Swirlies

[@NASAGoddard]

No, but perhaps you'd enjoy this playlist of sonified black hole data? soundcloud.com/nasa/sets/black-hole-week

[@Bacony_Cakes]

@@NASAGoddard Cheers.

[@Benjamma205]

Are those actual black holes? I thought science haven't Discover them yet

[@thisisahumanlol8255]

There are multiple confirmed black holes and there is even a real photo of a black hole's event horizon but this one is a simulation