GW190503_185404
Gravitational-wave source · GWTC-2.1-confident
A black hole of about 66 solar masses, formed on 2019-05-03 when two black holes of roughly 41 and 28 solar masses spiralled together 5.0 billion light-years away. LIGO and Virgo felt the collision as ripples in spacetime.
Computed render66.5 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
196 km
event-horizon radius (computed)
5.0 billion ly
from Earth
41+28 ☉
the two that merged
The two black holes that merged were about 41 (34–52) and 28 (19–36) solar masses. The remnant is 67 (59–76) 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 196 km in radius. The waves we detected had been travelling for 5.0 billion years before they reached us.
Black holes of similar mass
GW190514_065416Gravitational-wave source66.4 ☉GW241124_024914Gravitational-wave source67.0 ☉GW230825_041334Gravitational-wave source67.0 ☉GW231129_081745Gravitational-wave source66.0 ☉GW250109_074552Gravitational-wave source65.9 ☉GW190731_140936Gravitational-wave source67.4 ☉
Source: Gravitational-Wave Open Science Center (GWTC-2.1-confident), LIGO Virgo KAGRA. CC BY 4.0. See data & analysis for full sourcing.