GW200115_042309

Gravitational-wave source · GWTC-3-confident

A black hole of about 7 solar masses, formed on 2020-01-15 when a black hole and a neutron star of roughly 6 and 1 solar masses spiralled together 946 million light-years away. LIGO and Virgo felt the collision as ripples in spacetime.

GW200115_042309, a gravitational-wave sourceComputed render
Computed render: general-relativistic ray-trace; colours mapped to a visible range. Not a photograph.
7.2 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
21 km
event-horizon radius (computed)
946 million ly
from Earth
6+1 ☉
the two that merged

The two black holes that merged were about 6 (3–8) and 1 (1–2) solar masses. The remnant is 7 (6–9) solar masses. Values in parentheses are the 90% credible ranges from LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA (GWTC).

Its event horizon, the edge past which nothing returns, spans about 21 km in radius. The waves we detected had been travelling for 946 million years before they reached us.

Black holes of similar mass
A0620-00Stellar-mass6.6 ☉GRO J1655-40Stellar-mass6.3 ☉V404 CygniStellar-mass9.0 ☉LMC X-1Stellar-mass10.9 ☉GW190917_114630Gravitational-wave source11.6 ☉GW241109_115924Gravitational-wave source11.9 ☉
Source: Gravitational-Wave Open Science Center (GWTC-3-confident), LIGO Virgo KAGRA. CC BY 4.0. See data & analysis for full sourcing.
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