A recent study predicts that two supermassive black holes will collide in 10,000 years, creating a cosmic quake.

A group of astronomers from the California Institute of Technology found that two supermassive black holes circle each other every two years in deep space at a distance of around 9 billion light-years.

It is estimated that the mass of each supermassive black hole is hundreds of millions of times higher than the Sun.

Nearly fifty times as far separates the two bodies as our sun is from Pluto. It is anticipated that when the two objects meet in around 10,000 years, the enormous impact would shake space and time, causing gravity waves to ripple throughout the universe.

The Unexpected Phenomenology of the Blazar PKS 2131-021: A Unique Supermassive Black Hole Binaridate was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The California Institute of Technology team of astronomers has discovered evidence of this scenario taking place within a quasar, a tremendously powerful object. Exceptionally bright active galactic nuclei known as quasars are propelled by black holes that are millions or billions of times more massive than the sun.

The quasar PKS 2131-021 found in this study is a member of the blazar subclass of quasars, where the jet is pointed at Earth. It has been difficult to establish conclusive proof that quasars may have two supermassive black holes in orbit, despite the fact that astronomers were previously aware of this possibility.

Listen to the sound of two black holes interacting

PKS 2131-021, which has been observed for more than 45 years, is now the second known quasar to contain two supermassive black holes that are going to collide, according to the researchers.

Two black holes that circle each other every nine years but are further apart are found in the first known quasar, OJ 287.

Reference(s): Peer-Reviewed Research, EurekaAlert, Caltech