GW230824_033047

Gravitational-wave source · GWTC-4.1

A black hole of about 84 solar masses, formed on 2023-08-24 when two black holes of roughly 53 and 36 solar masses spiralled together 15.3 billion light-years away. LIGO and Virgo felt the collision as ripples in spacetime.

GW230824_033047, a gravitational-wave sourceComputed render
Computed render: general-relativistic ray-trace; colours mapped to a visible range. Not a photograph.
84.0 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
248 km
event-horizon radius (computed)
15.3 billion ly
from Earth
53+36 ☉
the two that merged

The two black holes that merged were about 53 (42–69) and 36 (23–49) solar masses. The remnant is 84 (71–103) 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 248 km in radius. The waves we detected had been travelling for 15.3 billion years before they reached us.

Black holes of similar mass
GW240426_031451GW240426_031451Gravitational-wave source84.0 ☉GW241127_061008GW241127_061008Gravitational-wave source83.0 ☉GW250108_152221GW250108_152221Gravitational-wave source86.0 ☉GW231230_170116GW231230_170116Gravitational-wave source86.0 ☉GW241229_155844GW241229_155844Gravitational-wave source82.0 ☉GW240601_061200GW240601_061200Gravitational-wave source82.0 ☉
Source: Gravitational-Wave Open Science Center (GWTC-4.1), LIGO Virgo KAGRA. CC BY 4.0. See data & analysis for full sourcing.
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