“We were searching for one large black hole in the middle of the cluster, but instead found two smaller black holes a little way out from the centre,” study co-author James Miller-Jones from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research said of the “very surprising” find.

This meant that “all the theory and simulations need refinement,” he added.

Simulations are great. One can learn a lot by studying simplified models of physical phenomena. But models and simulations must be validated against Nature, because details matter, and Nature often surprises us.

“The map is not the territory.”

Alfred Korzybski