GW170814

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GW170814
GW170814 signal.png
The signal of GW170814 measured by Hanford, Livingston and Virgo
Right ascension 3h 11m
Declination −44° 57
Total energy output3  M × c2
Other designationsGW170814
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GW170814 was a gravitational wave signal from two merging black holes, detected by the LIGO and Virgo observatories on 14 August 2017. [1] On 27 September 2017, the LIGO and Virgo collaborations announced the observation of the signal, the fourth confirmed event after GW150914, GW151226 and GW170104. It was the first binary black hole merger detected by LIGO and Virgo together. [2]

Contents

Event detection

Estimated location of GW170814. GW170814.png
Estimated location of GW170814.

The signal was detected at 10:30:43 UTC. The Livingston detector was the first to receive the signal, followed by the Hanford detector 8 milliseconds later and Virgo received the signal 14 milliseconds after Livingston. The detection in all three detectors lead to a very accurate estimate of the position of the source, with a 90% credible region of just 60 deg2, a factor 20 times more accurate than before. [3]

Astrophysical origin

Analysis indicated the signal resulted from the inspiral and merger of a pair of black holes (BBH) with 30.5+5.7
−3.0
and 25.3+2.8
−4.2
times the mass of the Sun, at a distance of 540+130
−210
 megaparsecs
(1.8+0.4
−0.7
billion light years) from Earth. [4] The resulting black hole had a mass of 53.2+3.2
−2.5
solar masses, 2.7+0.4
−0.3
solar masses having been radiated away as gravitational energy. The peak luminosity of GW170814 was 3.7+0.5
−0.5
×1049  W
.

Implications for general relativity

General relativity predicts that gravitational waves have a tensor-like (spin-2) polarization. The detection in all three detectors led to strong experimental evidence for pure tensor polarization over pure scalar or pure vector polarizations. [2] [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LIGO</span> Gravitational wave observatory site

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a large-scale physics experiment and observatory designed to detect cosmic gravitational waves and to develop gravitational-wave observations as an astronomical tool. Prior to LIGO, all data about the universe has come come in the form of light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation, from limited direct exploration on relatively nearby Solar System objects such as the Moon, Mars, Venus, Jupiter and their moons, asteroids etc, and from high energy cosmic particles. Initially, two large observatories were built in the United States with the aim of detecting gravitational waves by laser interferometry. Two additional, smaller gravity wave observatories are now operational in Japan KAGRA and Italy Virgo. The two LIGO observatories use mirrors spaced four kilometers apart to measure changes in length—over an effective span of 1120 km—of less than one ten-thousandth the charge diameter of a proton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics</span> Physics Institute in Potsdam and Hanover

The Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics is a Max Planck Institute whose research is aimed at investigating Einstein's theory of relativity and beyond: Mathematics, quantum gravity, astrophysical relativity, and gravitational-wave astronomy. The institute was founded in 1995 and is located in the Potsdam Science Park in Golm, Potsdam and in Hannover where it closely collaborates with the Leibniz University Hannover. Both the Potsdam and the Hannover parts of the institute are organized in three research departments and host a number of independent research groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GEO600</span> Gravitational wave detector in Germany

GEO600 is a gravitational wave detector located near Sarstedt, a town 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the south of Hanover, Germany. It is designed and operated by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and the Leibniz Universität Hannover, along with University of Glasgow, University of Birmingham and Cardiff University in the United Kingdom, and is funded by the Max Planck Society and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gravitational wave background</span> Random background of gravitational waves permeating the Universe

The gravitational wave background is a random background of gravitational waves permeating the Universe, which is detectable by gravitational-wave experiments, like pulsar timing arrays. The signal may be intrinsically random, like from stochastic processes in the early Universe, or may be produced by an incoherent superposition of a large number of weak independent unresolved gravitational-wave sources, like supermassive black-hole binaries. Detecting the gravitational wave background can provide information that is inaccessible by any other means about astrophysical source population, like hypothetical ancient supermassive black-hole binaries, and early Universe processes, like hypothetical primordial inflation and cosmic strings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virgo interferometer</span> Gravitational-wave detector in Italy

The Virgo interferometer is a large-scale scientific instrument near Pisa, Italy, for detecting gravitational waves. The detector is a Michelson interferometer, which can detect the minuscule length variations in its two 3-km (1.9 mi) arms induced by the passage of gravitational waves. The required precision is achieved using many systems to isolate it from the outside world, including keeping its mirrors and instrumentation in an ultra-high vacuum and suspending them using complex systems of pendula. Between its periodical observations, the detector is upgraded to increase its sensitivity. The observation runs are planned in collaboration with other similar detectors, including the two Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatories (LIGO) in the United States and the Japanese Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector (KAGRA), as cooperation between several detectors is crucial for detecting gravitational waves and pinpointing their origin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gravitational wave</span> Aspect of relativity in physics

Gravitational waves are transient displacements in a gravitational field – generated by the relative motion of gravitating masses – that radiate outward from their source at the speed of light. They were proposed by Oliver Heaviside in 1893 and then later by Henri Poincaré in 1905 as the gravitational equivalent of electromagnetic waves. In 1916, Albert Einstein demonstrated that gravitational waves result from his general theory of relativity as ripples in spacetime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gravitational-wave observatory</span> Device used to measure gravitational waves

A gravitational-wave detector is any device designed to measure tiny distortions of spacetime called gravitational waves. Since the 1960s, various kinds of gravitational-wave detectors have been built and constantly improved. The present-day generation of laser interferometers has reached the necessary sensitivity to detect gravitational waves from astronomical sources, thus forming the primary tool of gravitational-wave astronomy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gravitational-wave astronomy</span> Branch of astronomy using gravitational waves

Gravitational-wave astronomy is a subfield of astronomy concerned with the detection and study of gravitational waves emitted by astrophysical sources.

The LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) is a scientific collaboration of international physics institutes and research groups dedicated to the search for gravitational waves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First observation of gravitational waves</span> Detection made by LIGO and Virgo interferometers (2015)

The first direct observation of gravitational waves was made on 14 September 2015 and was announced by the LIGO and Virgo collaborations on 11 February 2016. Previously, gravitational waves had been inferred only indirectly, via their effect on the timing of pulsars in binary star systems. The waveform, detected by both LIGO observatories, matched the predictions of general relativity for a gravitational wave emanating from the inward spiral and merger of two black holes and the subsequent ringdown of a single, 62 M black hole remnant. The signal was named GW150914. It was also the first observation of a binary black hole merger, demonstrating both the existence of binary stellar-mass black hole systems and the fact that such mergers could occur within the current age of the universe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GW151226</span> Second gravitational-wave event detected by LIGO

GW151226 was a gravitational wave signal detected by the LIGO observatory on 25 December 2015 local time. On 15 June 2016, the LIGO and Virgo collaborations announced that they had verified the signal, making it the second such signal confirmed, after GW150914, which had been announced four months earlier the same year, and the third gravitational wave signal detected.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GW170104</span>

GW170104 was a gravitational wave signal detected by the LIGO observatory on 4 January 2017. On 1 June 2017, the LIGO and Virgo collaborations announced that they had reliably verified the signal, making it the third such signal announced, after GW150914 and GW151226, and fourth overall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GW170817</span> Gravitational-wave signal detected in 2017

GW170817 was a gravitational wave (GW) signal observed by the LIGO and Virgo detectors on 17 August 2017, originating from the shell elliptical galaxy NGC 4993, about 140 million light years away. The signal was produced by the last moments of the inspiral process of a binary pair of neutron stars, ending with their merger. As of January 2025, it is the only GW detection to be definitively correlated with any electromagnetic observation. Unlike the five prior GW detections—which were of merging black holes and thus not expected to have detectable electromagnetic signals—the aftermath of this merger was seen across the electromagnetic spectrum by 70 observatories on 7 continents and in space, marking a significant breakthrough for multi-messenger astronomy. The discovery and subsequent observations of GW170817 were given the Breakthrough of the Year award for 2017 by the journal Science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GW170608</span>

GW170608 was a gravitational wave event that was recorded on 8 June 2017 at 02:01:16.49 UTC by Advanced LIGO. It originated from the merger of two black holes with masses of and . The resulting black hole had a mass around 18 solar masses. About one solar mass was converted to energy in the form of gravitational waves.

PyCBC is an open source software package primarily written in the Python programming language which is designed for use in gravitational-wave astronomy and gravitational-wave data analysis. PyCBC contains modules for signal processing, FFT, matched filtering, gravitational waveform generation, among other tasks common in gravitational-wave data analysis.

Michel Davier is a French physicist.

GW 190412 was a gravitational wave (GW) signal observed by the LIGO and Virgo detectors on 12 April 2019. In April 2020, it was announced as the first time a collision of a pair of very differently sized black holes has been detected. As a result of this asymmetry, the signal included two measurable harmonics with frequencies approximately a factor 1.5 apart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GW190814</span> Gravitational wave of a "mass gap" collision

GW 190814 was a gravitational wave (GW) signal observed by the LIGO and Virgo detectors on 14 August 2019 at 21:10:39 UTC, and having a signal-to-noise ratio of 25 in the three-detector network. The signal was associated with the astronomical super event S190814bv, located 790 million light years away, in location area 18.5 deg2 towards Cetus or Sculptor. No optical counterpart was discovered despite an extensive search of the probability region.

Ground-based interferometric gravitational-wave search refers to the use of extremely large interferometers built on the ground to passively detect gravitational wave events from throughout the cosmos. Most recorded gravitational wave observations have been made using this technique; the first detection, revealing the merger of two black holes, was made in 2015 by the LIGO sites.

References

  1. Overbye, Dennis (27 September 2017). "New Gravitational Wave Detection From Colliding Black Holes". The New York Times . Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  2. 1 2 Abbott, Benjamin P.; et al. (LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration) (2017). "GW170814: A three-detector observation of gravitational waves from a binary black hole coalescence". Physical Review Letters . 119 (14): 141101. arXiv: 1709.09660 . Bibcode:2017PhRvL.119n1101A. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.141101. PMID   29053306. S2CID   46829350.
  3. Update on Gravitational Wave Science from the LIGO-Virgo Scientific Collaborations (Video of the press conference), retrieved 27 September 2017
  4. New detectors reveal a cosmic calamity. Don Lincoln, CNN News, 1 October 2017
  5. "European detector spots its first gravitational wave". Elizabeth Gibney & Davide Castelvecchi. Nature. 27 September 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2017.