
Ripples in space-time signalling the largest merger of two black holes ever seen challenge current understanding of the limits of astrophysics itself, scientists have said. The huge cosmic event saw two massive stellar objects with masses 100 and 140 times greater than the Sun slam into each other.
This created an even bigger black hole, resulting in a mass 225 times greater than the Sun. The event was detected by scientists with the international LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK), measuring gravitational waves far out in space.
According to details released by the California Institute of Technology, or Caltech, the high mass and extremely rapid spinning of the black holes, about 10 billion light years from Earth, "push the limits of both gravitational-wave detection technology and current theoretical models".
Cardiff University's Mark Hannam, a member of the LVK Collaboration, said: "This is the most massive black hole binary we've observed through gravitational waves, and it presents a real challenge to our understanding of black hole formation.
"Black holes this massive are forbidden through standard stellar evolution models. One possibility is that the two black holes in this binary formed through earlier mergers of smaller black holes."
Speaking to the Guardian, he added: "These are the most violent events we can observe in the universe, but when the signals reach Earth, they are the weakest phenomena we can measure. By the time these ripples wash up on Earth they are tiny."
He added: "Usually what happens in science is, when you look at the universe in a different way, you discover things you didn't expect and your whole picture is transformed. The detectors we have planned for the next 10 to 15 years will be able to see all the black hole mergers in the universe, and maybe some surprises we didn't expect."
Charlie Hoy of the University of Portsmouth, also a member of the LVK, said: "The black holes appear to be spinning very rapidly - near the limit allowed by Einstein's theory of general relativity. That makes the signal difficult to model and interpret. It's an excellent case study for pushing forward the development of our theoretical tools."

The University of Birmingham's Gregorio Carullo said it would take "years" to fully interpret the signal, dubbed, GW231123, and its implications.
"Despite the most likely explanation remaining a black hole merger, more complex scenarios could be the key to deciphering its unexpected features," he said. "Exciting times ahead!"
Sophie Bini, a postdoctoral researcher at Caltech and member of the LVK, said: "This event pushes our instrumentation and data-analysis capabilities to the edge of what's currently possible. It's a powerful example of how much we can learn from gravitational-wave astronomy - and how much more there is to uncover."
The LVK Collaboration is made up of representatives of LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory - a large-scale observatory based across two sites in the USA; Virgo - a group of 17 institutions mostly in Europe; and KAGRA - a precision peice of equipment in Japan using laser light to measure large distances. Since the collaboration was formed in 2015, more than 300 black hole mergers have been detected.
You may also like
Engine failure forces Delhi-Goa flight to divert to Mumbai
ED files supplementary chargesheet against Manipur firm for cheating 5,000 investors
FIDE Women's World Cup: Divya Deshmukh shocks World No. 2 Zhu Jiner; Other Indians play out draws
'Man who ran away from Congress is now Assam's CM': Kharge takes jibe at Himanta Biswa Sarma; also hits out at PM's five-nation tour
Mumbai News: BMC Brings 17,219 Slum-Based Commercial Units Under Tax Net; ₹613 Crore Revenue Expected