GW200308_173609
Gravitational-wave source · GWTC-3-confident
A black hole of about 88 solar masses, formed on 2020-03-08 when two black holes of roughly 60 and 24 solar masses spiralled together 23.2 billion light-years away. LIGO and Virgo felt the collision as ripples in spacetime.
Computed render88.0 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
260 km
event-horizon radius (computed)
23.2 billion ly
from Earth
60+24 ☉
the two that merged
The two black holes that merged were about 60 (31–226) and 24 (11–60) solar masses. The remnant is 88 (41–257) 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 260 km in radius. The waves we detected had been travelling for 23.2 billion years before they reached us.
Black holes of similar mass
GW240612_081540Gravitational-wave source88.0 ☉GW190620_030421Gravitational-wave source88.0 ☉GW240107_013215Gravitational-wave source87.0 ☉GW250108_152221Gravitational-wave source86.0 ☉GW231230_170116Gravitational-wave source86.0 ☉GW190701_203306Gravitational-wave source90.2 ☉
Source: Gravitational-Wave Open Science Center (GWTC-3-confident), LIGO Virgo KAGRA. CC BY 4.0. See data & analysis for full sourcing.