Scientists have recorded the largest merger of black holes in space

Scientists have recorded the largest merger of huge black holes in space, EurekAlert reports.
According to the publication, scientists from the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA joint scientific collaboration discovered the merger using observatories in the American cities of Hanford and Livingston and gravitational wave sensors. Two black holes, whose mass exceeds the mass of the Sun by 100 and 140 times, began to rotate around each other at high speed. The objects collided, forming an even larger hole.

The phenomenon was recorded using gravitational waves back in November 2023, the newspaper notes. The signal that helped determine the merger was named GW231123.

"Collaboration (of scientists - ed.) ... discovered the merger of the most massive black holes ever observed using gravitational waves using ... Observatories in Hanford and Livingston. The merger produced the final black hole, with a mass 225 times that of the Sun," the newspaper said.

It is noted that to date, about 300 mergers of black holes have been recorded using gravitational waves. So far, the most massive confirmed binary black hole was GW190521, with a total mass 140 times that of the Sun.

According to EurekAlert, the discovery will be presented by scientists at scientific conferences in Glasgow, Scotland, from July 14 to 18.

Source: RIA Novosti