GW231029_111508

Gravitational-wave source · GWTC-4.1

A black hole of about 101 solar masses, formed on 2023-10-29 when two black holes of roughly 65 and 42 solar masses spiralled together 10.1 billion light-years away. LIGO and Virgo felt the collision as ripples in spacetime.

GW231029_111508, a gravitational-wave sourceComputed render
Computed render: general-relativistic ray-trace; colours mapped to a visible range. Not a photograph.
101 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
298 km
event-horizon radius (computed)
10.1 billion ly
from Earth
65+42 ☉
the two that merged

The two black holes that merged were about 65 (51–83) and 42 (27–57) solar masses. The remnant is 101 (85–122) 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 298 km in radius. The waves we detected had been travelling for 10.1 billion years before they reached us.

Black holes of similar mass
GW241125_010116Gravitational-wave source101 ☉GW240618_071627Gravitational-wave source101 ☉GW230819_171910Gravitational-wave source102 ☉GW230601_224134Gravitational-wave source102 ☉GW240519_012815Gravitational-wave source100 ☉GW190519_153544Gravitational-wave source100 ☉
Source: Gravitational-Wave Open Science Center (GWTC-4.1), LIGO Virgo KAGRA. CC BY 4.0. See data & analysis for full sourcing.
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