GW191230_180458
Gravitational-wave source · GWTC-3-confident
A black hole of about 82 solar masses, formed on 2019-12-30 when two black holes of roughly 49 and 37 solar masses spiralled together 14.0 billion light-years away. LIGO and Virgo felt the collision as ripples in spacetime.
Computed render82.0 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
242 km
event-horizon radius (computed)
14.0 billion ly
from Earth
49+37 ☉
the two that merged
The two black holes that merged were about 49 (40–63) and 37 (25–48) solar masses. The remnant is 82 (71–99) 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 14.0 billion years before they reached us.
Black holes of similar mass
GW241229_155844Gravitational-wave source82.0 ☉GW240601_061200Gravitational-wave source82.0 ☉GW231113_150041Gravitational-wave source82.0 ☉GW230806_204041Gravitational-wave source82.0 ☉GW241127_061008Gravitational-wave source83.0 ☉GW170729Gravitational-wave source80.3 ☉
Source: Gravitational-Wave Open Science Center (GWTC-3-confident), LIGO Virgo KAGRA. CC BY 4.0. See data & analysis for full sourcing.