The Milky Way contains many more black holes than expected. In the photo: (left) James Balllock, Manoy Kallinhat and Oliver Elbert
Scientists conducted a census of space objects to compile a catalog and found that there are many more black holes than we used to think. Their number may be close to 100 million.
The celestial census began 1.5 years ago after they learned that LIGO had fixed ripples in the space-time continuum created by the blows of black holes. The researchers were surprised at the scale of the merger, and they decided to find out how common these objects are in space.
The study was based on information about the process of star formation in various galactic types. This helped calculate how many black holes should be created. In ancient galaxies, not only old stars, but also old black holes were concentrated. And the total number inside depends on the galactic size. The fact is that large galaxies have a large number of metal-rich stars, while dwarfs have a low metallicity. Objects with heavier elements waste matter into space, therefore they do not transform into holes. But large - suitable candidates.
With information on the stellar population in the galaxy and knowing the percentage ratio of species, it is possible to determine the number of potential black holes. In addition, it was important to understand how often they are formed in pairs and how long it takes to drain.
The results show that only 0.1-1% of black holes eventually merge. If their calculations are correct, then in the next few years we must record new events.
