Can a Black Hole absorb a Black Hole?

Question

Just a thought really, when (more likey IF) a Black Hole is next/near another black hole, can they merge to create a super black hole?

What would had as they are both trying to absorb the same matter?

Let me know you ideas.

Answer 1

Brett B is passing on faulty information about orbiting satellites. Yes black holes can merge, the very nature of these objects makes it a certainty.  

Answer 2

  If a black hole could exist they could merge and form a black hole with their combined mass.A black hole would be an entity that would conserve nothing not even angular momentum,so a black hole would always be a sphere and invisible.

Answer 3

Yes 2 black holes can merge. That would cause gravitational waves which scientists are trying to detect, so far without success. Actually any moving mass causes gravitational waves, but they are very weak. But two black holes merging would cause gravitational waves that might be strong enough to detect at Earth.

Answer 4

It takes more black holes to do that

Answer 5

That's impossible but what is possible is that two black holes can meet when two galaxies collide with one another and create an even bigger black hole.

Answer 6

A black hole is far more simple to understand than most other natural phenomenon... Understanding the physics makes it alot easier to visualize and will render questions like this obsolete...

The "Basics" (and I do mean basics)...

In space, all bodies of mass have a gravitational pull (see Newton and Einstein’s general relativity for more details)... Because of this, all bodies have an escape velocity... Here on Earth it is around 17,000 mph for low orbit and around 25,000 mph for high orbit/open space...

More massive object like the sun or Jupiter would have much higher escape velocities for no reason other than they have more mass and therefore more pull...

Once a body's mass reaches enough to make the escape velocity 186,000 mps (yes miles per second) the body will be a black hole. Therein, not even light, which travels at that speed, will be fast enough to escape... In that you can see that two merging would only greatly increase the amount of mass and make it even stronger...

Answer 7

they can merge into each other and create a super black hole  it's going to happen the we merge with the Andromeda Galaxy

Answer 8

Nope. It will just remain a black hole. Okay, here is the reason ---

A black hole is known to shrink to infinity that is a 0 dimensional object and hence a POINT.

Now, 2 distinct points can never be in contact (i you think about it). If they do, they will coincide, and still be one point and NOT 2.

same way, if 2 black holes (which are DISTINCT POINTS) come in contact, they will coincide. if they coincide, they will end up in ONE point.

Finally,

1 POINT = 1 NORMAL BLACK HOLE.

so, the entire thing is going to end up in one normal black hole.

1 NORMAL BLACK HOLE + 1 NORMAL BLACK HOLE = 1 NORMAL BLACK HOLE.

I was thinking, why didn't anyone ask this question earlier.... good question....

Answer 9

Black holes can indeed collide. The final outcome is a single much more massive black hole. Prior to and during the merger, scientists believe that gravitational waves would be generated, although so far such waves have not been detected. More on black hole merger and gravity waves at this website ==>

http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn...

Neutron stars -- stellar remnants that just missed becoming black hole -- also collide and merge. The end result of such an event is a single black hole. This website for more info plus artist conception of neutron star collision ==>http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy...

Answer 10

It takes more than two black holes to merge to form super massive black holes.

But black holes to merge (and in fact even super massive black holes can do that).

Answer 11

They do merge letting of a gigantic burst of gamma radiation (one type of Gamma Ray Burst), and forming a Super Massive Black Hole.  The matter caught between would still be pulled toward the more massive black hole because it's gravity is more intense.

Answer 12

Scientists have speculated that this does happen. It hasn't been specifically observed yet, but you can be assured it happens.