GW240527_230910

Gravitational-wave source · GWTC-5.0

A black hole of about 36 solar masses, formed on 2024-05-27 when two black holes of roughly 28 and 10 solar masses spiralled together 3.9 billion light-years away. LIGO and Virgo felt the collision as ripples in spacetime.

GW240527_230910, a gravitational-wave sourceComputed render
Computed render: general-relativistic ray-trace; colours mapped to a visible range. Not a photograph.
36.4 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
108 km
event-horizon radius (computed)
3.9 billion ly
from Earth
28+10 ☉
the two that merged

The two black holes that merged were about 28 (18–37) and 10 (8–15) solar masses. The remnant is 36 (31–44) 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 108 km in radius. The waves we detected had been travelling for 3.9 billion years before they reached us.

Black holes of similar mass
GW230927_153832GW230927_153832Gravitational-wave source36.5 ☉GW240920_073424GW240920_073424Gravitational-wave source36.7 ☉GW151012GW151012Gravitational-wave source37.1 ☉GW190412GW190412Gravitational-wave source35.6 ☉GW240930_035959GW240930_035959Gravitational-wave source35.5 ☉GW190925_232845GW190925_232845Gravitational-wave source34.9 ☉
Source: Gravitational-Wave Open Science Center (GWTC-5.0), LIGO Virgo KAGRA. CC BY 4.0. See data & analysis for full sourcing.
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