Latest news with #GW231123
Scientific American
15 hours ago
- Science
- Scientific American
Monster Black Hole Merger Is Most Massive Ever Seen
Physicists have detected the biggest ever merger of colliding black holes. The discovery has major implications for researchers' understanding of how such bodies grow in the Universe. 'It's super exciting,' says Priyamvada Natarajan, a theoretical astrophysicist at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, who was not involved in the research. The merger was between black holes with masses too big for physicists to easily explain. 'We're seeing these forbidden high-mass black holes,' she says. The discovery was made by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), a facility involving two detectors in the United States. It comes at a time when US funding for gravitational-wave detection faces devastating cuts. The results, released as a preprint on the arXiv server 1, were presented at the GR-Amaldi gravitational-waves meeting in Glasgow, UK, on 14 July. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. Forbidden mass LIGO detects gravitational waves by firing lasers down long, L-shaped arms. Minuscule changes in arm length reveal the passage of gravitational waves through the planet. The waves are ripples in space-time, caused by massive bodies accelerating, such as when two inspiralling black holes or neutron stars merge. Hundreds of these mergers have been observed using gravitational waves since LIGO's first detection in 2015. But this latest detection, made in November 2023, is the biggest yet. By modelling the signal detected by LIGO, scientists have calculated that the event, dubbed GW231123, was caused by two black holes with masses of about 100 and 140 times that of the Sun merging to form a final black hole weighing in at some 225 solar masses. 'It's the most massive [merger] so far,' says Mark Hannam, a physicist at Cardiff University, UK, and part of the LVK Collaboration, a wider network of gravitational-wave detectors that encompasses LIGO, Virgo in Italy and KAGRA in Japan. It's 'about 50% more than the previous record holder', he says. Most of the events captured by LIGO involve stellar mass black holes — those ranging from a few to 100 times the mass of the Sun — which are thought to form when massive stars end their lives as supernovae. However, the two black holes involved in GW231123 fall in or near a predicted range, of 60–130 solar masses, at which this process isn't expected to work, with theories instead predicting that the stars should be blown apart. 'So they probably didn't form by this normal mechanism,' says Hannam. Instead, the two black holes probably formed from earlier merger events — hierarchical mergers of massive bodies that led to the event detected by LIGO, which is estimated to have happened 0.7 to 4.1 billion parsecs away (2.3—13.4 billion light years). It's like 'four grandparents merging into two parents merging into one baby black hole', says Alan Weinstein, a physicist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and also part of the LVK Collaboration. Models of the black holes also suggest that they were spinning exceedingly fast — about 40 times per second, which is near the limit of what Einstein's general theory of relativity predicts black holes can reach while remaining stable. 'They're spinning very close to the maximal spin allowable,' says Weinstein. Both the spin and the mass could provide clues to how black holes grow in the Universe. One of the biggest questions in astronomy is how the largest black holes, the supermassive black holes found at the centres of galaxies such as the Milky Way, grew in the early cosmos. Although there is plenty of evidence for the existence of stellar mass black holes and supermassive black holes — those of more than a million solar masses — intermediate mass black holes in the range of 100 to 100,000 solar masses have been harder to find. 'We don't see them,' says Natarajan. The latest detection might tell us that 'these intermediate-mass black holes of several hundred solar masses play a role in the evolution of galaxies', says Hannam, perhaps through hierarchical mergers, which could increase the spin speed, as well as the mass, of the resulting black holes. 'Little by little, we're building up a list of the kind of black holes that are out there,' he says. Cuts ahead That growth in knowledge could be hampered by the administration of US President Donald Trump and its proposed cuts to the US National Science Foundation, which runs LIGO. Under the proposal, one of LIGO's two gravitational-wave observatories would be shut down. At the time of this detection in November 2023, Virgo and KAGRA were not operational. Without two detectors, scientists would not have been sure that they had made a real detection of two merging black holes, says Hannam. 'Because we had two detectors, we saw the same blip at the same time,' he says. The closure of one of the observatories would be 'catastrophic', says Natarajan. 'This discovery would not be possible if one arm was turned off.' Planned upgrades to LIGO in the coming years, and the addition of new detectors around the world, including one in India, could greatly increase physicists' capabilities in gravitational-wave research, an area of astronomy that is still in its infancy. 'We're going to be seeing thousands of black holes in the next few years,' says Hannam. 'There's this huge investment that's been done, and it's only just beginning to pay off.'
Scottish Sun
18 hours ago
- Science
- Scottish Sun
Biggest black hole merger EVER detected has created terrifying ‘monster' that's 225 times as massive as our Sun
Each black hole was roughly 100 to 140 times the mass of our Sun before they combined HOLE-Y SMOKES Biggest black hole merger EVER detected has created terrifying 'monster' that's 225 times as massive as our Sun Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) SCIENTISTS have discovered the biggest black hole merger ever recorded, as two massive spacetime ripples spiral into each other. The monstrous collision occurred on the outskirts of our Milky Way galaxy, and produced a black hole roughly 225 times more massive than the sun. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 Aerial shot of the advanced LIGO gravitational detector in Livingston, Louisiana - one of the four LVK Collaboration detectors Credit: Alamy Before now, the most massive black hole merger had a total mass of 140 suns. The new collision event, dubbed GW231123, was found by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration - a group of four detectors that identify cataclysmic cosmic events. Each black hole was roughly 100 to 140 times the mass of our Sun before they combined. "This is the most massive black hole binary we've observed through gravitational waves, and it presents a real challenge to our understanding of black hole formation," Mark Hannam, of Cardiff University and a member of the LVK Collaboration, said in a statement. "Black holes this massive are forbidden through standard stellar evolution models. "One possibility is that the two black holes in this binary formed through earlier mergers of smaller black holes." Evidence of the GW231123 event was discovered in late 2023, when two slight distortions in spacetime were spotted by laser detectors in Louisiana and Washington. 3 The black holes are moving so fast they are too difficult to properly analyse Credit: Alamy The signal that arrived at the detectors was coming from two high-mass black holes that were spinning rapidly - meaning they were hard to analyse. Charlie Hoy, of the University of Portsmouth and also a member of the LVK, explained: "The black holes appear to be spinning very rapidly - near the limit allowed by Einstein's theory of general relativity. "That makes the signal difficult to model and interpret. "It's an excellent case study for pushing forward the development of our theoretical tools." Horrifying black hole simulation shows what 'spaghettification' looks like when objects fall into 'extreme slurp' Researchers say they need to observe more similar, high-spin mergers to better calculate just how massive this most recent black hole merger is. Gregorio Carullo, of the University of Birmingham and a member of the LVK, noted: "It will take years for the community to fully unravel this intricate signal pattern and all its implications. "Despite the most likely explanation remaining a black hole merger, more complex scenarios could be the key to deciphering its unexpected features." The researchers are set to present their findings at the 24th International Conference on General Relativity and Gravitation (GR24) and the 16th Edoardo Amaldi Conference on Gravitational Waves in Glasgow, Scotland this week. Black holes are formed through the collapse of massive stars or through the merging of smaller black holes. Known black holes currently fall into just two categories: stellar-mass black holes, which range from a few to a few dozen times the Sun's mass; and supermassive black holes, which can be anywhere from about 100,000 to 50 billion times as massive as the Sun. Intermediate-mass black holes fall into the gap of these two mass ranges and are physically unable to form from direct star collapse and are incredibly rare. Astrophysicists reckon these rare types of black holes grow from merging with others that are similar in size - like our most recent collision event. 3 Researchers say they need to observe more similar, high-spin mergers to better calculate just how massive this most recent black hole merger is Credit: Alamy
The Hindu
a day ago
- Science
- The Hindu
What is a black hole merger?
A: A black hole merger happens when two black holes — extremely dense objects with gravity so strong that not even light can escape — get close and start orbiting each other. Over time, they lose energy by sending out invisible ripples in spacetime called gravitational waves. As they spiral closer together, their orbit shrinks until they finally crash and combine into a single, bigger black hole. This moment releases a huge burst of gravitational waves, which can be detected on the earth by special observatories like LIGO in the US, Virgo in Italy, and KAGRA in Japan. Think of the phenomenon like two figure skaters spinning toward each other and then grabbing hands to spin faster as one, except in extreme physical conditions. Catching these events allows scientists to learn new things about black holes and the universe. In fact, on July 10, an international collaboration of scientists reported discovering an especially massive black hole merger, named GW231123. LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA had detected gravitational waves from the merger on November 23, 2023. In this event, two black holes, about 137x and 103x the mass of the sun, crashed together, forming an even bigger black hole. This was unusual because black holes in this mass range are thought to be rare. The discovery suggests large black holes might form when smaller ones merge, not just from dying stars. GW231123 also showed both original black holes spinning really fast, which challenges existing theories of their existence.
Time of India
a day ago
- Science
- Time of India
India helps detect: Biggest black hole crash; signal found, 240 times heavier than sun
PUNE: A team of scientists has detected the largest black hole collision ever observed - two massive black holes crashed into each other to create a colossal, 'binary' black hole 240 times the size of the Sun. Indian scientists - Archana Pai, Koustav Chandra and a team led by M K Haris - played a central role in the landmark discovery of this event, dubbed 'GW231123'. The discovery was announced on Monday by the global LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) network - an international team of scientists whose mission is to detect tiny ripples in spacetime triggered by powerful cosmic events, such as black hole collisions. You Can Also Check: Pune AQI | Weather in Pune | Bank Holidays in Pune | Public Holidays in Pune LVK comprises three gravitational-wave detectors - LIGO in the United States, Virgo in Italy, and KAGRA in Japan. GR231123 was discovered by LIGO Hanford in Richmond (Washington) and LIGO Livingston (Los Angeles) on Nov 23, 2023. The event involved two massive black holes, one measuring 103 times the mass of the Sun and the other, 137 solar masses. The result was a binary black hole the mass of which is 240 times that of the Sun. Furthermore, Pai, principal investigator of the LIGO-India Scientific Collaboration (LISC), said black holes were spinning at a rate six lakh times faster than the earth's rotation. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Is it legal? How to get Internet without paying a subscription? Techno Mag Learn More Undo "GW231123 is the heaviest and highly spinning binary black hole system detected to date," she said. Black holes this large and fast-spinning aren't supposed to exist - at least not according to our current understanding of how stars evolve. Chandra, who completed his PhD at IIT Bombay and is now a postdoctoral researcher at Pennsylvania State University, helped study and make sense of the GW231123 signal, wrote up the findings, and figured out what the final part of the signal tells us after the black holes merged. He also helped write the main scientific paper. Haris and his team from IIT Calicut checked if the signal behaved exactly as Einstein's theory of gravity predicted - and so far, it seems to match. "This signal, just a tenth of a second long, was a real puzzle at first," Chandra said. It matched the waveform of emerging black holes, as predicted by Einstein's theory of relativity. "We realised that we may have, for the first time, witnessed the collision of two intermediate-mass black holes. Chandra said it could be years before scientists are able to uncover the true origin of the gravitational wave and extracting all data from it. India participates in global gravitational wave astronomy via LISC, which currently comprises 17 academic institutions across India. IIT Bombay specialises in short-duration transient searches, including intermediate-mass black holes in the LIGO-Virgo data.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Gravitational waves reveal most massive black hole merger ever detected — one 'forbidden' by current models
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Scientists have detected the most massive merger of black holes ever. This titanic collision, "heard" in ripples in spacetime called gravitational waves, involves black holes so massive that it could challenge current models of the universe. The merger was detected by the gravitational wave detector network LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) on Nov. 23, 2023, during the fourth observing run of these three sensitive laser interferometers located in the US, Italy, and Japan. The merger event that set spacetime ringing with this gravitational wave signal, designated GW231123, involved progenitor black holes with masses of 100 and 140 times that of the sun. These two were so massive that when they merged, they created a "daughter" black hole 225 times the mass of our sun, with the missing mass converted to energy, propelling gravitational waves that rippled out from the violent event. Prior to GW231123, the most massive black hole created in a merger and detected in gravitational waves had a mass of 140 times that of the sun. This was detected in 2021 as the signal GW190521. "This is the most massive black hole binary we've observed through gravitational waves, and it presents a real challenge to our understanding of black hole formation," LVK collaboration and Cardiff University researcher Mark Hannam said in a statement. "Black holes this massive are forbidden through standard stellar evolution models. "One possibility is that the two black holes in this binary formed through earlier mergers of smaller black holes." The monstrous masses of these black holes are not the only things that make GW231123 so interesting. The signal seems to indicate that prior to the merger, at least one of the progenitor black holes was spinning rapidly. Perhaps as rapidly as the laws of physics allow, in fact. "The black holes appear to be spinning very rapidly — near the limit allowed by Einstein's theory of general relativity," LVK member Charlie Hoy of the University of Portsmouth said. "That makes the signal difficult to model and interpret. It's an excellent case study for pushing forward the development of our theoretical tools." The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) is no stranger to making history and breaking records. In 2015, its twin detectors based in Livingston, Louisiana, and Hanford, Washington, made the first ever detection of gravitational waves. This detection came exactly a century after Einstein had first predicted the existence of gravitational waves in his 1915 theory of gravity, general relativity. The signal, which would become known as GW150914, was the result of the merger of black holes that created a daughter black hole with a mass around 62 times that of the sun. Since 2015, LIGO has been joined by the gravitational wave detectors Virgo and the Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector (KAGRA). This resultant collaboration has now detected over 300 black hole mergers. Over 200 of these detections have occurred in the fourth operating run of these instruments. As impressive as that is, the high-mass and rapid spin of the black holes that clashed to create GW231123 have pushed the limits of gravitational-wave detection technology and perhaps the bounds of current theoretical models, too. "This event pushes our instrumentation and data-analysis capabilities to the edge of what's currently possible," LVK member and California Institute of Technology (Caltech) researcher Sophie Bini said. "It's a powerful example of how much we can learn from gravitational-wave astronomy — and how much more there is to uncover." Related Stories: — 'This is the holy grail of theoretical physics.' Is the key to quantum gravity hiding in this new way to make black holes? — Tiny 'primordial' black holes created in the Big Bang may have rapidly grown to supermassive sizes — A 'primordial' black hole may zoom through our solar system every decade Fully unlocking the secrets of this signal and others that LVK detected up until the end of its fourth operating run in January 2024 will require the refinement of analysis and interpretation methods. "It will take years for the community to fully unravel this intricate signal pattern and all its implications," LVK team member Gregorio Carullo of the University of Birmingham said. "Despite the most likely explanation remaining a black hole merger, more complex scenarios could be the key to deciphering its unexpected features. "Exciting times ahead!" GW231123 was presented at the 24th International Conference on General Relativity and Gravitation (GR24) and the 16th Edoardo Amaldi Conference on Gravitational Waves in Glasgow, Scotland, on Monday (July 14).
