GW240601_061200

Gravitational-wave source · GWTC-5.0

A black hole of about 82 solar masses, formed on 2024-06-01 when two black holes of roughly 52 and 32 solar masses spiralled together 16.6 billion light-years away. LIGO and Virgo felt the collision as ripples in spacetime.

GW240601_061200, a gravitational-wave sourceComputed render
Computed render: general-relativistic ray-trace; colours mapped to a visible range. Not a photograph.
82.0 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
242 km
event-horizon radius (computed)
16.6 billion ly
from Earth
52+32 ☉
the two that merged

The two black holes that merged were about 52 (36–72) and 32 (21–44) solar masses. The remnant is 82 (63–104) 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 242 km in radius. The waves we detected had been travelling for 16.6 billion years before they reached us.

Black holes of similar mass
GW241229_155844GW241229_155844Gravitational-wave source82.0 ☉GW231113_150041GW231113_150041Gravitational-wave source82.0 ☉GW230806_204041GW230806_204041Gravitational-wave source82.0 ☉GW191230_180458GW191230_180458Gravitational-wave source82.0 ☉GW241127_061008GW241127_061008Gravitational-wave source83.0 ☉GW170729GW170729Gravitational-wave source80.3 ☉
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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