Gravitational waves from GW190521

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

The Challenge of Weird Black Hole Mergers

When spacetime shivers last only a fraction of a second — as in the case of the massive-black-hole merger GW190521 — astronomers struggle to uncover their origins.

The merger of a black-hole binary

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

10 New Merger Events in Gravitational-Wave Data

An independent team has found additional black hole mergers in LIGO data.

a range of lines with blue dots on top and bottom creating a shape similar to a bird with spread wings. red and yellow dots run along the outline of the bottom half, all on a black background.

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

Third Gravitational-Wave Catalog Released

The latest results from LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA bring several key revelations, including that black holes tend to come with certain masses.

big black hole merger

Black Holes

Big Black Holes Dominate New Gravitational-Wave Catalog

Gravitational-wave scientists have unveiled their latest catalog of events, revealing a surprising number of massive black holes.

black hole binary in AGN disk

Black Holes

Black Hole Collision May Have Caused Burst of Light

Astronomers think they’ve detected a flash created by the merger of two black holes.

visualization of GW190814 gravitational-wave event

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

Gravitational Wave Detectors Find Mystery “Mass Gap” Object

Astronomers have caught a black hole colliding with a mysterious companion that might be either one of the most massive neutron stars or the smallest black hole ever detected.

supermassive black hole with accretion disk

Black Holes

Black Holes Grow by Gas, Not Mergers, Most of Their Lives

Calculations suggest how black holes have amassed mass and predict what the black holes’ spins should be if this picture is correct.

Illustration of black holes merging

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

What LIGO Teaches Us About Black Holes

The rising count of gravitational-wave events is giving us a new look at a once-invisible population of black holes.

Illustration of black holes merging

Black Holes

Gravitational-Wave Observatories Bag Four Black-Hole Collisions

A re-analysis of data from LIGO and Virgo brings the number of gravitational-wave detections to 11, including the most distant and most powerful black-hole merger yet discovered.

Still from simulation of two supermassive black holes merging

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

Video: The Glow of Spiraling Black Holes

New calculations reveal what two supermassive black holes about to merge would look like in ultraviolet and X-rays.

five black hole mergers

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

LIGO Sees Smallest Black Hole Binary Yet

LIGO has detected another black hole merger, raising the tally to five.

Virgo

Cosmology

Fourth Gravitational Wave Event Detected

Teaming up with LIGO, Europe’s Virgo detector has bagged its first gravitational waves. The three-observatory detection enabled scientists to better pinpoint the merging black holes’ location.

Supermassive black hole binary (art)

Black Holes

Supermassive Black Holes Observed in Close Dance

Astronomers monitoring a tight pair of supermassive black holes have observed their orbital motion.

merging black holes

Black Holes

LIGO Detects Third Black Hole Merger

Scientists with the gravitational-wave observatory announce another discovery, this time of a black hole merger twice as far away as previous detections.

Merged supermassive black hole, 3C 186

Black Holes

Gravitational Waves Dethrone Supermassive Black Hole

Astronomers have discovered a supermassive black hole not sitting in its customary seat at the center of its galaxy. Gravitational waves from a recent merger may have ejected the black hole.

two black holes in the moments before a catastrophic collision

Black Holes

LIGO Detects Second Black Hole Collision

The gravitational wave observatory has detected a second event, heralding a new era in astrophysics. The day after Christmas last year, the cosmos quietly gifted scientists with gravitational waves — ripples in the fabric of spacetime – produced in a collision between two stellar-mass black holes. It’s the second event…