A Possible Close Supermassive Black-Hole Binary in a Quasar with Optical Periodicity

First published: 2015

Brief summary

Detection of a strong, smooth ~5.2-year periodic optical signal in quasar PG 1302-102 from a systematic survey of 247,000 quasars, interpreted as a candidate binary supermassive black hole system.

Article

A Possible Close Supermassive Black-Hole Binary in a Quasar with Optical Periodicity is a peer-reviewed journal article published by Nature in 2015. The study is summarised as follows: Detection of a strong, smooth ~5.2-year periodic optical signal in quasar PG 1302-102 from a systematic survey of 247,000 quasars, interpreted as a candidate binary supermassive black hole system.

The analysis focuses on 1,884 ± 88 days (~5.2 years). The data source is Catalina Real-time Transient Survey light curves of 247,000 quasars. This gives the cycle claim a specific numerical and evidential setting rather than presenting periodicity only as a visual impression.

The article reports the following result: Quasar PG 1302-102 emits a strong, smooth periodic signal in its optical variability with a mean observed period of 1,884 plus or minus 88 days, indicating a possible supermassive black-hole binary. The interpretation is strongest when it survives red-noise modelling, uneven sampling, spectral-window effects and correction for the number of frequencies searched.

For cycles researchers, the article brings together quasar periodicity, supermassive black hole binary, pg 1302-102, optical light curves. It is relevant to the detection and interpretation of periodic signals in astronomical observations, where sampling, red noise and instrumental effects can imitate or obscure genuine cycles.

Because it is a peer-reviewed journal article, the article is a strong starting point for discussion in the Cosmology & Astronomy forum, although its conclusions should still be compared with later replications and updated datasets.

Source details and credits

• Source / publisher: Nature
• Source type: Peer-reviewed journal article
• URL type: WWW
• Credits: Nature
• URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature14143