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MON, 19 OCT · 85 ITEMS
"Two monster black holes could collide in just 100 years" — Science Daily (all) · Science & Medicine
Astronomers report evidence that the center of the galaxy Markarian 501 — about 500 million away — contains two orbiting each other every roughly 121 days and gradually closing in. Based on the observed orbit and energy loss, they predict the pair could merge within about a century, which is extremely soon by cosmic timescales, potentially releasing that observatories on Earth could detect.
This is reputable secondary reporting of a peer-reviewed astronomical finding, with Science Daily relaying the team's claim. The 100-year merger estimate is a model-dependent extrapolation from periodic variability interpreted as a tight black-hole binary — strong evidence, but a prediction rather than a directly observed merger.
The Science Daily item is dated 18 October 2026 per the grounding window, but the discovery was already widely reported in April 2026, so this is essentially recirculating/consolidating that story rather than brand-new material.