Latest news with #LVK
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists Found a Black Hole That Shouldn't Exist. Now Physics Has a Problem.
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: Over the past decade, the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) network has detected hundreds of black hole mergers, but none quiet as large as GW231123. At 225 solar masses, the black hole resulting from the merger far exceeds previous record holder GW190521, which weighed in at 140 solar masses. This black holes involved in this merger were actually so large that they challenge some of our understanding of stellar evolution. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, or LIGO, made major headlines in 2015 when scientists confirmed the first ever detection of gravitational waves—ripples in spacetime caused by highly energetic deep space phenomena (think: black hole mergers, supernovae, and neutron star collisions). This particular detection originated from a black hole merger that created a new black hole 62 times the mass of our Sun. The LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) network of gravitational wave detectors hasn't let off the gas in the decade since, and has made hundreds of confirmed gravitational-wave detections, including the first neutron star merger in 2017 and the largest black hole merger (clocking in at 140 solar masses) in 2021. Now, in a preprint uploaded to the arXiv server, LVK scientists have provided evidence that there's a new heavyweight champion—a merger that produced a new 255-solar-mass black hole. Designated GW231123 for the date it was discovered (November 23, 2023, during the fourth observing run of the LVK network), this black hole is actually too big, according to our current best understanding of physics. '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, a member of the LVK Collaboration from Cardiff University, said in a press statement. 'Black holes this massive are forbidden through standard stellar evolution models.' To form this black hole, the two black hole predecessors likely had to measure around 100 and 140 times the mass of the Sun, respectively. This means they potentially lie in what's known as the 'upper-mass gap'—a range of masses in which black holes aren't thought to form from stars directly (the resulting supernovae of these hugely massive stars should leave behind no stellar remnant at all). 'One possibility is that the two black holes in this binary formed through earlier mergers of smaller black holes." Hannam said. However, these black holes' masses aren't the only mystery, as both were spinning between 80 and 90 percent of their top speed limit. This makes them the highest spinning black holes ever recorded by LVK. 'The black holes appear to be spinning very rapidly—near the limit allowed by Einstein's theory of general relativity,' Charlie Hoy, another member of the LVK from the University of Portsmouth, said in a press statement. 'That makes the signal difficult to model and interpret. It's an excellent case study for pushing forward the development of our theoretical tools.' Because the detectors are sensitive to black holes of around 100 solar masses, detecting one more than double that size certainly pushes LIGO to its limits. According to Science News, the LVK network was only able to detect the smallest blip from this merger, with only around 0.1 seconds detected at the tail end of the collision. LIGO's decades-long mission to detect gravitational waves has given scientists a whole new understanding of the universe, and nearly a decade after its first detection, it shows no signs of stopping. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life? Solve the daily Crossword
NDTV
17-07-2025
- Science
- NDTV
How The Largest Black Hole Merger In History Challenges Its Physics
Astronomers have detected the largest black hole merger ever, and it has challenged their understanding of such formations. The event, designated GW231123, was initially detected on November 23, 2023, by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration. Two enormous black holes, around 100 and 140 times the mass of the Sun, collided in this cosmic collision to create a new black hole - 225 times more massive than the Sun, per the Astronomy Magazine. Since supernova physics usually disturbs progenitor stars in the 60-130 solar mass "mass gap," black holes in that range are not likely to develop via regular stellar collapse. And GW231123 stands out among those 300 black hole mergers for reasons other than simply being the greatest massive collision. "This is the largest and most massive black hole binary ever detected through gravitational waves, and it poses a real challenge to our understanding of black hole formation," LIGO Scientific Collaboration member Professor Mark Hannam of Cardiff University asserted. The distance of GW231123 from Earth is unknown; it may be as far away as 12 billion light-years, according to Professor Hannam. The speed at which the two black holes are orbiting one another is another unexpected aspect of GW231113. The results showed that the two merging black holes were spinning close to the maximum allowed by general relativity, in accordance with Einstein's theory. It is, thus, quite challenging to extract exact features and to model waveforms with such high angular momentum. The black holes are probably spinning as rapidly as is practically feasible, according to Dr Charlie Hoy of Portsmouth University. "GW231123 poses a serious threat to our knowledge of how black holes emerge," Dr Hoy said. According to Professor Zoltan Haiman of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria, who was not involved in the project, the black holes in GW231123 were therefore thought to be leftovers of one or even several generations of previous mergers. GW231123 was discovered by a group of astronomers when the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detected faint ripples in space-time caused by two black holes colliding. Scientists refer to these disturbances as gravitational waves. The event was detected during the fourth observing run of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) network, which consists of Japan's KAGRA, the Virgo detector in Italy, and the LIGO observatories in the United States, CNN reported. GW190521, which was only 60 per cent as large as GW231123, held the previous record for the largest black hole merger ever recorded. In the future, scientists may discover even more gigantic mergers.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Physicists detect largest-ever merger of 2 black holes equal in size to 240 suns
Sometime in their cosmic lives, two gigantic black holes crashed into one another to form something even more monstrous: A black hole equal to the size of 240 of Earth's sun. Now, thanks to an international collaboration among physicists, cutting-edge technology managed to uncover the behemoth by detecting ripples in space-time from the violent collision. The force of the collision not only left cosmic bread crumbs for researchers to follow, but created what experts claim is the most massive black hole merger ever observed through gravitational waves, or distortions in space-time caused by such powerful events. As a result, physicists are rethinking their astrophysical models for the universe. "It presents a real challenge to our understanding of black hole formation," Mark Hannam, a physicist at Cardiff University in the United Kingdom who was part of the team behind the find, said in a statement. "Black holes this massive are forbidden through standard stellar evolution models. Supermassive black holes, regions of space where the pull of gravity is so intense that even light doesn't have enough energy to escape, are often considered terrors of the known universe. When any object gets close to a supermassive black hole, it's typically ensnared in a powerful gravitational pull. That's due to the event horizon – a theoretical boundary known as the "point of no return" where light and other radiation can no longer escape. As their name implies, supermassive black holes are enormous (Sagittarius A*, located at the center of our Milky Way, is 4.3 million times bigger than the sun.) They're also scarily destructive and perplexing sources of enigma for astronomers who have long sought to learn more about entities that humans can't really get anywhere near. The event, designated GW231123, was spotted Nov. 23, 2023, by the gravitational wave detector network LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK). An international team of physicists who are part of the network used detectors located in the U.S., Italy and Japan to observe the merger through gravitational waves, a cosmic phenomenon that could hold clues about the mysteries of the universe. First theorized in 1916 by Albert Einstein, gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of space-time created during some of the universe's most powerful events, including the merging or collision of supermassive black holes. In this instance, two enormous black holes – 100 and 140 times the mass of Earth's sun – collided. The result? A black hole the size of a whopping 240 suns. That makes it the heaviest of all the previous approximate 100 black hole mergers yet confirmed through gravitational wave observations, according to the researchers. Until the discovery, the most massive black hole merger had a much smaller total mass of 140 times that of the sun. The researchers even theorized that the two black holes could have formed through earlier mergers of even smaller black holes. The discovery "marks a landmark achievement in gravitational-wave science," Amit Singh Ubhi, a research fellow at the University of Birmingham and a member of the LVK Collaboration, said in a statement. "It opens a new frontier in our understanding of black hole formation and underlines the urge to accelerate innovation towards the next generation of gravitational-wave detectors." Funded by the National Science Foundation, LIGO (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory) previously made history in 2015 when it made the first-ever detection of gravitational waves. The space-time ripples were discovered by LIGO's twin detectors in Livingston, Louisiana and Hanford, Washington. In the years since, LIGO joined forces with gravitational wave detectors Virgo in Italy and the Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector (KAGRA) in Japan. The collaboration has fueled the discovery of more than 300 black hole mergers during surveillance of the Milk Way galaxy. Researchers still have work ahead to refine the analysis of the recent black hole merger and improve stellar evolution models, Gregorio Carullo, a Birmingham professor who helped analyze the findings, said in a statement. 'It will take years for the community to fully unravel this intricate signal pattern and all its implications," Carullo said. "There are exciting times ahead.' Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Largest black hole merger ever detected through gravitational waves
USA Today
16-07-2025
- Science
- USA Today
Physicists detect largest-ever merger of 2 black holes equal in size to 240 suns
An international team of physicists uncovered the behemoth by detecting ripples in space-time from the violent collision. Sometime in their cosmic lives, two gigantic black holes crashed into one another to form something even more monstrous: A black hole equal to the size of 240 of Earth's sun. Now, thanks to an international collaboration among physicists, cutting-edge technology managed to uncover the behemoth by detecting ripples in space-time from the violent collision. The force of the collision not only left cosmic bread crumbs for researchers to follow, but created what experts claim is the most massive black hole merger ever observed through gravitational waves, or distortions in space-time caused by such powerful events. As a result, physicists are rethinking their astrophysical models for the universe. "It presents a real challenge to our understanding of black hole formation," Mark Hannam, a physicist at Cardiff University in the United Kingdom who was part of the team behind the find, said in a statement. "Black holes this massive are forbidden through standard stellar evolution models. What are black holes? Supermassive black holes, regions of space where the pull of gravity is so intense that even light doesn't have enough energy to escape, are often considered terrors of the known universe. When any object gets close to a supermassive black hole, it's typically ensnared in a powerful gravitational pull. That's due to the event horizon – a theoretical boundary known as the "point of no return" where light and other radiation can no longer escape. As their name implies, supermassive black holes are enormous (Sagittarius A*, located at the center of our Milky Way, is 4.3 million times bigger than the sun.) They're also scarily destructive and perplexing sources of enigma for astronomers who have long sought to learn more about entities that humans can't really get anywhere near. Merger created enormous black hole the size of 240 suns The event, designated GW231123, was spotted Nov. 23, 2023, by the gravitational wave detector network LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK). An international team of physicists who are part of the network used detectors located in the U.S., Italy and Japan to observe the merger through gravitational waves, a cosmic phenomenon that could hold clues about the mysteries of the universe. First theorized in 1916 by Albert Einstein, gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of space-time created during some of the universe's most powerful events, including the merging or collision of supermassive black holes. In this instance, two enormous black holes – 100 and 140 times the mass of Earth's sun – collided. The result? A black hole the size of a whopping 240 suns. That makes it the heaviest of all the previous approximate 100 black hole mergers yet confirmed through gravitational wave observations, according to the researchers. Until the discovery, the most massive black hole merger had a much smaller total mass of 140 times that of the sun. The researchers even theorized that the two black holes could have formed through earlier mergers of even smaller black holes. The discovery "marks a landmark achievement in gravitational-wave science," Amit Singh Ubhi, a research fellow at the University of Birmingham and a member of the LVK Collaboration, said in a statement. "It opens a new frontier in our understanding of black hole formation and underlines the urge to accelerate innovation towards the next generation of gravitational-wave detectors." LIGO forms international collaboration to find gravitational waves Funded by the National Science Foundation, LIGO (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory) previously made history in 2015 when it made the first-ever detection of gravitational waves. The space-time ripples were discovered by LIGO's twin detectors in Livingston, Louisiana and Hanford, Washington. In the years since, LIGO joined forces with gravitational wave detectors Virgo in Italy and the Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector (KAGRA) in Japan. The collaboration has fueled the discovery of more than 300 black hole mergers during surveillance of the Milk Way galaxy. Researchers still have work ahead to refine the analysis of the recent black hole merger and improve stellar evolution models, Gregorio Carullo, a Birmingham professor who helped analyze the findings, said in a statement. 'It will take years for the community to fully unravel this intricate signal pattern and all its implications," Carullo said. "There are exciting times ahead.' Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@
The Irish Sun
15-07-2025
- Science
- The Irish Sun
Biggest black hole merger EVER detected has created terrifying ‘monster' that's 225 times as massive as our Sun
SCIENTISTS have discovered the biggest black hole merger e ver 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. Advertisement 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 Advertisement READ MORE ON SPACE "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 Advertisement 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. Most read in Science 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." Advertisement 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 Advertisement 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. Advertisement 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 What is a black hole? The key facts Here's what you need to know... A black hole is a region of space where absolutely nothing can escape That's because they have extremely strong gravitational effects, which means once something goes into a black hole, it can't come back out They get their name because even light can't escape once it's been sucked in – which is why a black hole is completely dark What is an event horizon? There has to be a point at which you're so close to a black hole you can't escape Otherwise, literally everything in the universe would have been sucked into one The point at which you can no longer escape from a black hole's gravitational pull is called the event horizon The event horizon varies between different black holes, depending on their mass and size What is a singularity? The gravitational singularity is the very centre of a black hole It's a one-dimensional point that contains an incredibly large mass in an infinitely small space At the singularity, space-time curves infinitely, and the gravitational pull is infinitely strong Conventional laws of physics stop applying at this point How are black holes created? Most black holes are made when a supergiant star dies This happens when stars run out of fuel – like hydrogen – to burn, causing the star to collapse When this happens, gravity pulls the centre of the star inwards quickly and collapses into a tiny ball It expands and contracts until one final collapse, causing part of the star to collapse inwards thanks to gravity, and the rest of the star to explode outwards The remaining central ball is extremely dense, and if it's especially dense, you get a black hole
