Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)
GW231123: LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA detect most massive black hole merger to date
Gravitational waves from massive black holes challenge current astrophysical models
Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun, the most massive ones observed by the LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA detectors so far.
Simulation of the binary black hole merger GW231123
The video and the images display the numerical simulation results of a binary black hole merger consistent with the gravitational-wave event GW231123.
The inset near the top right shows the two black holes orbiting around other and merging into one larger black hole. The main panel shows a wider perspective with the black holes at the centre of the frame, surrounded by their gravitational waves, which are propagating away at the speed of light. Dark blue colors represent comparatively weak gravitational waves, whereas yellow colors represent the strongest waves emitted near merger. The black holes are strongly rotating, flattening their horizons, and causing the plane of their orbit and their individual rotation axes to change. The visualisation artificially colors the northern hemispheres of each black hole in a lighter shading of grey, to make these changes visible. The bottom of the visualisation shows the gravitational waveform that would be recorded by a gravitational-wave detector situated next to the camera.
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Acknowledgements
Numerical relativity simulation of the black hole merger provided by the Simulations of Extreme Spacetimes (SXS) waveform database. I. Markin gratefully acknowledges the support of Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) through Project No. 504148597. This visualization was rendered using 100% renewable energy.
You can find this video on YouTube. Click on the image to be redirected there.
GW231123
Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun, the most massive ones observed by the LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA detectors so far.
The inset near the top right shows the two black holes orbiting around other and merging into one larger black hole. The main panel shows a wider perspective with the black holes at the centre of the frame, surrounded by their gravitational waves, which are propagating away at the speed of light. Dark blue colors represent comparatively weak gravitational waves, whereas yellow colors represent the strongest waves emitted near merger. The black holes are strongly rotating, flattening their horizons, and causing the plane of their orbit and their individual rotation axes to change. The visualisation artificially colors the northern hemispheres of each black hole in a lighter shading of grey, to make these changes visible. The bottom of the visualisation shows the gravitational waveform that would be recorded by an gravitational wave detector situated next to the camera.
Images
Fig. 1: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 1: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 2: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 2: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 3: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 3: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 4: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 4: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 5: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 5: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 6: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 6: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 7: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 7: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 8: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 8: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 9: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 9: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 10: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 10: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 11: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 11: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 12: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 12: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 13: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 13: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 14: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 14: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 15: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 15: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 16: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 16: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 17: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 17: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 18: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 18: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 19: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
Fig. 19: Visualization showing the merger of two massive black holes, illustrating the gravitational wave observation named GW231123. The merging black holes are about 132 and 106 times as massive as our Sun.
