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Two Monster Black Holes Just Collided — It’s so Massive, It Shouldn’t Exist
GLOBAL NETWORK OF LIGO (USA), VIRGO (ITALY), AND KAGRA (JAPAN) OBSERVATORIES, JUL 15 – The GW231123 merger formed a 225-solar-mass black hole, exceeding previous records and challenging current stellar evolution and black hole formation models, scientists said.
- The LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration detected the most massive black hole merger, GW231123, on November 23, 2023, forming a 225-solar-mass black hole.
- This event occurred during LVK's fourth observing run, which began in May 2023, and challenges existing stellar evolution models due to the black holes' exceptional masses and spins.
- The merger involved black holes about 100 and 140 times the Sun’s mass, spinning near the limit allowed by Einstein’s relativity, pushing data analysis and instrumentation to their limits.
- Mark Hannam remarked that this discovery challenges established theories about how black holes form, while Gregorio Carullo emphasized that it will require years of analysis to fully understand the signal and its broader significance.
- This discovery marks a landmark advancement in gravitational-wave science, opening new frontiers for black hole research and motivating further detector upgrades and analyses.
19 Articles
19 Articles
The Statesman
Asbury Park Press NJPhysicists detect largest-ever merger of 2 black holes equal in size to 240 suns
An international team of physicists discovered the largest-ever merger of 2 black holes through a phenomenon known as gravitational waves.
Science Daily
WDC TV NewsTwo monster black holes just collided — it’s so massive, it shouldn’t exist
Two colossal black holes—among the most massive ever seen—collided in deep space, creating gravitational waves that rippled across the cosmos and shook the foundations of astrophysical theory. Detected by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observatories, this record-breaking merger has stunned scientists not only because of its size, but also due to the black holes’ extreme spins, challenging our current understanding of how such behemoths form.
When massive stars collapse, black holes can be created. However, it can also be different. This suggests a signal of gravitational waves measured in the USA.
Biggest Black Hole Merger Ever Detected May Reveal a Missing Link in the Universe
Scientists have detected the biggest black hole merger. Credit: 852278-MCS / CC BY-SA 4.0 In what may be a breakthrough in astrophysics, scientists have observed the biggest black hole merger ever recorded—an event that could offer the strongest evidence yet for a long theorized and rarely glimpsed class of black holes. The collision occurred near the edge of the Milky Way galaxy and produced a single black hole estimated to be about 225 times t…
Largest black hole merger ever observed found by LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA gravitational wave detectors
The largest black hole merger ever observed has resulted in a new black hole about 225 times the mass of our Sun. The collision was detected using the LIGO gravitational wave observatories. LIGO detector in Hanford, Washington. Credit: LIGO. Gravitational waves were first detected at the US Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in 2015. These waves, first postulated by Einstein in his general theory of relativity, are ripple…
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