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Pune: Gravitational waves have been detected from the merger of two black holes which resulted in the formation of the most massive black hole spotted so far by LIGO-Virgo.
It is the most distant gravitational wave signal observed so far by gravitational wave detectors and has been named GW190521.
Analysis of the data collected last year on May 21, at 8.32am IST, by the Advanced LIGO detectors at Hanford, Washington and Livingston, Louisiana and advanced Virgo detector in Cascina, Italy showed the observation of a gravitational wave signal from the merger of two massive pairs of black holes.
These new observations published in The Physical Review Letters and Astrophysical Journal Letters on Wednesday.
The gravitational wave research group from IIT Bombay was involved in the detection studies of GW190521 event. A research group at IIT Gandhinagar helped develop the filter bank used for detection of the black holes in the third observing run with LIGO Virgo scientists.
“The event, that was named GW 190521, threw open a series of interesting finds. Not only is it the most distant gravitational wave signal observed so far by the gravitational wave detectors, but it also challenges our understanding of how these massive black holes are formed, and provides new ways to test the general theory of relativity,” Sukanta Bose, LIGO-India Scientific Collaboration principal investigator said.
“Since the observed duration of the signal was just 0.1 second, it was important to ascertain that the signal was a genuine one and not noise. This is where the Indian group working for LIGO came into play. The group was also involved in developing the filter bank that is used for the detection of the black holes,” said the official note from LIGO India scientific collaboration.
The collision of two black holes of masses 85 and 66 times the mass of our Sun, formed a black hole of mass 142 times the mass of the Sun, Bose said. The remaining mass was lost as energy in the form of g waves consistent with Einstein’s theory, he added.
“This signal travelled a distance of 17.2 billion light years, making it the most distant g- wave signal observed so far by our detectors,” he said.
The primary black hole with a mass 85 times the mass of the Sun falls in the ‘forbidden mass gap’. “Astrophysical models suggest that black holes with masses between about 65 and 120 times the mass of the Sun cannot be formed by a collapsing star. This mass range is termed as the “mass gap”. However, since the event GW190521 occurred because of the collision of two black holes in that mass range, it indicates an alternative way of formation of massive black holes in the Universe – possibly by successive collisions between pairs of smaller black holes in a special environment,” said the official release.
It is the most distant gravitational wave signal observed so far by gravitational wave detectors and has been named GW190521.
Analysis of the data collected last year on May 21, at 8.32am IST, by the Advanced LIGO detectors at Hanford, Washington and Livingston, Louisiana and advanced Virgo detector in Cascina, Italy showed the observation of a gravitational wave signal from the merger of two massive pairs of black holes.
These new observations published in The Physical Review Letters and Astrophysical Journal Letters on Wednesday.
The gravitational wave research group from IIT Bombay was involved in the detection studies of GW190521 event. A research group at IIT Gandhinagar helped develop the filter bank used for detection of the black holes in the third observing run with LIGO Virgo scientists.
“The event, that was named GW 190521, threw open a series of interesting finds. Not only is it the most distant gravitational wave signal observed so far by the gravitational wave detectors, but it also challenges our understanding of how these massive black holes are formed, and provides new ways to test the general theory of relativity,” Sukanta Bose, LIGO-India Scientific Collaboration principal investigator said.
“Since the observed duration of the signal was just 0.1 second, it was important to ascertain that the signal was a genuine one and not noise. This is where the Indian group working for LIGO came into play. The group was also involved in developing the filter bank that is used for the detection of the black holes,” said the official note from LIGO India scientific collaboration.
The collision of two black holes of masses 85 and 66 times the mass of our Sun, formed a black hole of mass 142 times the mass of the Sun, Bose said. The remaining mass was lost as energy in the form of g waves consistent with Einstein’s theory, he added.
“This signal travelled a distance of 17.2 billion light years, making it the most distant g- wave signal observed so far by our detectors,” he said.
The primary black hole with a mass 85 times the mass of the Sun falls in the ‘forbidden mass gap’. “Astrophysical models suggest that black holes with masses between about 65 and 120 times the mass of the Sun cannot be formed by a collapsing star. This mass range is termed as the “mass gap”. However, since the event GW190521 occurred because of the collision of two black holes in that mass range, it indicates an alternative way of formation of massive black holes in the Universe – possibly by successive collisions between pairs of smaller black holes in a special environment,” said the official release.
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