LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Adds 161 Black Hole Mergers as Upgraded Detectors Capture 3 to 4 Signals Weekly
Updated
Updated · Simons Foundation · May 26
LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Adds 161 Black Hole Mergers as Upgraded Detectors Capture 3 to 4 Signals Weekly
6 articles · Updated · Simons Foundation · May 26
The fifth LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA catalog logged 161 new black hole mergers from April 2024 to January 2025, nearly doubling the total number of known collisions detected through gravitational waves.
Upgrades to LIGO and Virgo’s 2024 return after four years offline boosted sensitivity enough to catch 3 to 4 gravitational-wave events a week and sharply improve source localization.
One event, GW240615, pinned a merger of roughly 26- and 30-solar-mass black holes to a 6-square-degree patch of sky, the collaboration’s most precise localization yet.
The larger sample revealed two black hole populations—including fast-spinning objects above 35 solar masses consistent with second-generation black holes—supporting multiple formation pathways.
Researchers said the expanded catalog also delivers their most precise gravitational-wave estimate yet of cosmic expansion and stronger tests of general relativity, though not enough to settle the Hubble-rate dispute.
Does a new cosmic yardstick from gravitational waves help resolve the crisis over the universe's true expansion rate?
Why are 'second-generation' black holes, born from cosmic collisions, mysteriously less massive than our models predict?
How did the 'sound' of one cosmic collision finally prove Stephen Hawking’s famous theory that black holes only grow?
GWTC-5: 161 New Gravitational-Wave Discoveries Redefine Black Hole and Neutron Star Science
Overview
The LIGO-Virgo-Kagra (LVK) collaboration has released the GWTC-5 catalog, marking a major leap in gravitational-wave astronomy. With 161 new detections from the latest observing run, the total number of confirmed gravitational-wave events has soared to 390. This dramatic increase, driven by improved detector sensitivity, highlights the accelerating pace of discovery and signals a shift from initial breakthroughs to precision gravitational astronomy. As hundreds of events are now cataloged, scientists can perform more robust statistical analyses, deepening our understanding of the universe’s most extreme phenomena and the populations of black holes and neutron stars.