LIGO-GW170814

Recently another binary black hole was detected: GW170814. This was observed not only by LIGO, but with Virgo – a gravitational wave detector in Pisa. Working together, the network was able to more precisely identify where the source came from. Our astronomer colleagues pointed their telescopes at this small location quickly, looking for hints of light.

We didn’t expect a flash of light from merging black holes, but LIGO is sensitive to other sources that could radiate, like exploding stars (supernova). Precision pointing makes multimessenger astronomy possible.

For more information GW170814 : A three-detector observation of gravitational waves from a binary black hole coalescence, PRL in press

Comparing GW170814 to numerical relativity: This merger is similar to GW150914 and GW170104, and can be modeled well using many of the same NR simulations. Following a figure in the GW170814 discovery paper, The following graphic compares GW170814 to a few best-fitting NR simulations. RIT student Jacob Lange made the reconstructed solid curves on this figure, using simulations of binary black holes provided by RIT; see also similar figures using simulations provided by SXS and Georgia Tech. [Image credit: LSC/Sudarshan Ghonge]