OJ 287 - Binary pair of supermassive black holes

A light curve of the BL Lacertae object OJ 287 is constructed in the optical V band using observations between the year 1890 and the present. The light curve shows repeated outbursts at ~11. 65 yr intervals. Also there is a hint of repeated minima at the interval of 11. 0 yr. The structure of the light curve during an outburst resembles the pattern of inflow of gas from an accretion disk to a supermassive black hole in a tidal perturbation. For this reason we propose that OJ 287 is a binary pair of supermassive black holes with an orbital period of 9 yr in the rest frame of OJ 287 and that the light variations are related to tidally induced mass flows from accretion disks into black holes. Numerical experiments using N-body code by Miller have been carried out to study mass flows. These simulations show that the inflow into the center of a black hole disk during repeated periastron passages of the companion will produce an outburst pattern similar to that observed for OJ 287 with 9 yr period. Indirect observational evidence indicates masses for two black holes of 5 x 10⁹^ Mₛun_ and 2 x 10⁷^ Mₛun_ with a binary semimajor axis of ~0. 1 pc. The future binary lifetime via gravitational radiation is ~10⁵^ yr. Tidal interaction and thus luminosity of the binary model would be greatest in these last stages which is consistent with OJ 287 being one of the brightest quasars.