Two feeding black holes found just 175 parsecs apart in the early universe

Astronomers have found two actively feeding supermassive black holes separated by only 175 parsecs (570 light-years) in galaxy MG B2016+112 at redshift 3.273, seen when the universe was about 2 billion years old. It is the most compact dual AGN known at this redshift; the study was posted to arXiv on Sept. 25.

• Black holes are separated by 175 parsecs (570 light-years)
• System MG B2016+112 sits at redshift 3.273
• Universe was about 2 billion years old when observed
• Most compact dual AGN known at this redshift