From: jsfmiller@netzero.net   
      
   Joseph Devaney wrote:   
   > from the little research that I have done and looked over about   
   > blackholes, I is to my understand that the bigger the body, the larger   
   > the graviational pull would be to pull in other objects.   
   >   
   > my question stems to this.  is it possible for 2 (or more) blackholes to   
   > exist withn a close proximity.  the gravitational collapse of a star or   
   > even greater, a galaxy does cause a blackhole, unless I am mistaken...   
   > but, say it were to happen in close proximity of another star?  say 2   
   > stars begin a gravitational collapse at the same time?   
      
   It is thought that the conditions in the core of galaxies and possibly globular   
   clusters would allow black holes (and white dwarfs and neutron star) to form in   
   close proximity to each other when compared to the stellar distances in our   
   neighborhood.  In particular, mergers of black holes with other black holes,   
   with neutron stars, with white dwarfs, with gas that would have otherwise   
   possibly collapsed and formed into stars, and possibly even with stars   
   themselves are highly probable and may help explain the observation of what   
   appear to be supermassive black holes at the cores of some galaxies and   
   globular   
   clusters where such observations have been done.   
      
   >   
   > will one star more rapidly collapase, thus "sucking" the other star into   
   > its force?  or do they for lack of a better term, happily co-exist?   
      
   There is at least one known example of coorbiting pulsars (rotating neutron   
   stars), so there would be no exclusion of this possibility with black holes.    
   As   
   to whether they would each evolve independent of each other and remain in orbit   
   after becoming black holes as they were as individual stars, or whether they   
   will merge, or whether one will form first and strip material from its partner   
   all depends on initial distances and mass of the stars prior to that formation.   
      
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