Abstract
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 masses and ; 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 (at 90% probability). The luminosity distance to the source is , corresponding to a redshift assuming standard cosmology. The source location is constrained to an annulus section of , primarily in the southern hemisphere. The binary merges into a black hole of mass and spin . This black hole is significantly more massive than any other inferred from electromagnetic observations in the stellar-mass regime.
- Received 18 February 2016
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.241102
This article is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.
Published by the American Physical Society