LIGO-Virgo: Mystery Object in "Mass Gap"
Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2020 5:56 pm
LIGO-Virgo Finds Mystery Object in "Mass Gap"
International LIGO-Virgo Collaboration | LIGO Observatory | 2020 Jun 23
LIGO-Virgo Finds Mystery Astronomical Object in "Mass Gap"
Northwestern University | 2020 Jun 23
A Black Hole with a Puzzling Companion
Albert Einstein Institute | Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (MPG) | 2020 Jun 23
Find May Reshape Understanding of Biggest Stars in the Universe
Science & Technology Facilities Council, UK | 2020 Jun 23
Scientists Grapple with the Cosmic Mystery of GW190814
University of Birmingham, UK | 2020 Jun 23
Astronomers Find Mystery Object in "Mass Gap"
University of Portsmouth, UK | 2020 Jun 23
GW190814: Gravitational Waves from the Coalescence of a 23 Solar Mass
Black Hole with a 2.6 Solar Mass Compact Object ~ R. Abbott et al
A Deep CFHT Optical Search for a Counterpart to the Possible
Neutron Star-Black Hole Merger GW190814 ~ Nicholas Vieira et al
International LIGO-Virgo Collaboration | LIGO Observatory | 2020 Jun 23
In August of 2019, the LIGO-Virgo gravitational-wave network witnessed the merger of a black hole with 23 times the mass of our sun and a mystery object 2.6 times the mass of the sun. Scientists do not know if the mystery object was a neutron star or black hole, but either way it set a record as being either the heaviest known neutron star or the lightest known black hole.
When the most massive stars die, they collapse under their own gravity and leave behind black holes; when stars that are a bit less massive die, they explode in a supernova and leave behind dense, dead remnants of stars called neutron stars. For decades, astronomers have been puzzled by a gap that lies between neutron stars and black holes: the heaviest known neutron star is no more than 2.5 times the mass of our sun, or 2.5 solar masses, and the lightest known black hole is about 5 solar masses. The question remained: does anything lie in this so-called mass gap?Visualization of the Binary Black Hole Merger GW190814Click to play embedded YouTube video.
Credit: N. Fischer, S. Ossokine, H. Pfeiffer, A. Buonanno (MPG), SXS Collaboration
Now, in a new study from the National Science Foundation's Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and the Virgo detector in Europe, scientists have announced the discovery of an object of 2.6 solar masses, placing it firmly in the mass gap. The object was found on August 14, 2019, as it merged with a black hole of 23 solar masses, generating a splash of gravitational waves detected back on Earth by LIGO and Virgo. ...
The cosmic merger described in the study, an event dubbed GW190814, resulted in a final black hole about 25 times the mass of the sun (some of the merged mass was converted to a blast of energy in the form of gravitational waves). The newly formed black hole lies about 800 million light-years away from Earth. ...
LIGO-Virgo Finds Mystery Astronomical Object in "Mass Gap"
Northwestern University | 2020 Jun 23
A Black Hole with a Puzzling Companion
Albert Einstein Institute | Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (MPG) | 2020 Jun 23
Find May Reshape Understanding of Biggest Stars in the Universe
Science & Technology Facilities Council, UK | 2020 Jun 23
Scientists Grapple with the Cosmic Mystery of GW190814
University of Birmingham, UK | 2020 Jun 23
Astronomers Find Mystery Object in "Mass Gap"
University of Portsmouth, UK | 2020 Jun 23
GW190814: Gravitational Waves from the Coalescence of a 23 Solar Mass
Black Hole with a 2.6 Solar Mass Compact Object ~ R. Abbott et al
- Astrophysical Journal Letters 896(2):L44 (2020 Jun 20) DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ab960f
- arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:2006.12611 > 22 Jun 2020
A Deep CFHT Optical Search for a Counterpart to the Possible
Neutron Star-Black Hole Merger GW190814 ~ Nicholas Vieira et al
- Astrophysical Journal 895(2):996 (2020 Jun 01) DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab917d
- arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:2003.09437 > 20 Mar 2020 (v1), 13 May 2020 (v3)