2016/02/29 by The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, the Virgo Collaboration, B. P. Abbott +987 · 1 voice · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #gr-qc #astro-ph.HE
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.116.241102
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 241102 (2016) · 19 pages, 6 figures
arxiv created 2016/06/20 · arxiv updated 2016/06/21
On September 14, 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detected a gravitational-wave transient (GW150914); we characterize the properties of the source and its parameters. The data around the time of the event were analyzed coherently across the LIGO network using a suite of accurate waveform models that describe gravitational waves from a compact binary system in general relativity. GW150914 was produced by a nearly equal mass binary black hole of 36+5-4 M_\odot and 29+4-4 M_\odot; for each parameter we report the median value and the range of the 90% credible interval. The dimensionless spin magnitude of the more massive black hole is bound to be <0.7 (at 90% probability). The luminosity distance to the source is 410+160-180 Mpc, corresponding to a redshift 0.09+0.03-0.04 assuming standard cosmology. The source location is constrained to an annulus section of 610 deg2, primarily in the southern hemisphere. The binary merges into a black hole of 62+4-4 M_\odot and spin 0.67+0.05-0.07. This black hole is significantly more massive than any other inferred from electromagnetic observations in the stellar-mass regime.