When two black holes meet, they are drawn to one another by way of their enormous gravity, initiating a powerful orbital dance, spiraling closer together over time, until one subsumes the other and they merge.

One of the most energetic events in the universe, actually seeing a binary black hole system in action has proven elusive until now.

A group of scientists report that they have captured the first image of two black holes circling each other once every 12 years or so, around 5 billion light years away from Earth. The pair are at the center of a quasar called OJ287, an extremely bright galactic core that forms when the black hole at the center of the galaxy devours surrounding gas and dust.

The observations, detailed in a study published Thursday in The Astrophysical Journal, of

See Full Page