GW190521
Gravitational-wave source · GWTC-2.1-confident
A black hole of about 147 solar masses, formed on 2019-05-21 when two black holes of roughly 98 and 57 solar masses spiralled together 10.8 billion light-years away. LIGO and Virgo felt the collision as ripples in spacetime.
Computed render147 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
435 km
event-horizon radius (computed)
10.8 billion ly
from Earth
98+57 ☉
the two that merged
The two black holes that merged were about 98 (77–132) and 57 (27–84) solar masses. The remnant is 147 (131–187) 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 435 km in radius. The waves we detected had been travelling for 10.8 billion years before they reached us.
Black holes of similar mass
GW231028_153006Gravitational-wave source144 ☉GW200220_061928Gravitational-wave source141 ☉GW230704_212616Gravitational-wave source132 ☉GW231005_021030Gravitational-wave source127 ☉GW190426_190642Gravitational-wave source173 ☉GW230922_040658Gravitational-wave source119 ☉
Source: Gravitational-Wave Open Science Center (GWTC-2.1-confident), LIGO Virgo KAGRA. CC BY 4.0. See data & analysis for full sourcing.