Scientists detect the largest black hole merger in the universe

Billions of years ago, two black holes, each with a mass more than 100 times that of the Sun, began orbiting each other and eventually collided, creating a new black hole with a mass about 265 times that of the Sun. The collision occurred about 10 billion light-years from Earth.

Gravitational waves were simultaneously recorded at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) stations in Washington and Louisiana, USA, around 3:00 PM on November 23, 2023. The signal lasted only a fraction of a second and captured the fading phase of merging black holes, known as ringing.

"These are the most violent events we can observe in the universe, but when they reach Earth they decay into the weakest signals we can measure. We've seen some signs of this before, but this might be the most extreme example," said Prof. Mark Hannam, Director of the Institute for Gravitational Research at Cardiff University.

Analysis showed that the merging black holes had masses of 103 and 137 solar masses, respectively, and were spinning 400,000 times faster than Earth. These values fall within a mass range where black hole formation is theoretically not expected. According to physicists, these extraordinarily large black holes are likely the product of previous mergers.

DHA

Reporter: News Center