Black Hole Merger
Why it Matters?
Recent detection of an unusually massive black hole merger (GW231123) challenges existing theories on black hole formation and spin.
What You Should Know?
Black hole is a cosmic body of extremely intense gravity from which nothing, not even light, can escape.
A black hole can be formed by the death of a massive star.
Only the most massive stars—those of more than three solar masses—become black holes at the end of their lives. Stars with a smaller amount of mass evolve into less compressed bodies, either white dwarfs or neutron stars.
A black hole merger occurs when two black holes orbit each other and merge into a single, larger black hole.
The merger emits gravitational waves, which are ripples in spacetime detectable on Earth.
Gravitational waves are detected by observatories like LIGO (USA), Virgo (Italy), and KAGRA (Japan).