Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2020
Abstract
We report the observation of a compact binary coalescence involving a 22.2 - 24.3 M⊙ black hole and a compact object with a mass of 2.50 - 2.67 M⊙ (all measurements quoted at the 90% credible level). The gravitational-wave signal, GW190814, was observed during LIGO's and Virgo's third observing run on August 14, 2019 at 21:10:39 UTC and has a signal-to-noise ratio of 25 in the three-detector network. The source was localized to 18.5 deg2 at a distance of 241+41−45 Mpc; no electromagnetic counterpart has been confirmed to date. The source has the most unequal mass ratio yet measured with gravitational waves, 0.112+0.008−0.009, and its secondary component is either the lightest black hole or the heaviest neutron star ever discovered in a double compact-object system. The dimensionless spin of the primary black hole is tightly constrained to ≤0.07. Tests of general relativity reveal no measurable deviations from the theory, and its prediction of higher-multipole emission is confirmed at high confidence. We estimate a merger rate density of 1-23 Gpc−3 yr−1 for the new class of binary coalescence sources that GW190814 represents. Astrophysical models predict that binaries with mass ratios similar to this event can form through several channels, but are unlikely to have formed in globular clusters. However, the combination of mass ratio, component masses, and the inferred merger rate for this event challenges all current models for the formation and mass distribution of compact-object binaries.
Recommended Citation
Abbott, R., et al. “GW190814: Gravitational Waves from the Coalescence of a 23 Solar Mass Black Hole with a 2.6 Solar Mass Compact Object.” The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 896, no. 2, American Astronomical Society, June 2020, p. L44, doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ab960f.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Publication Title
The Astrophysical Journal Letters
DOI
10.3847/2041-8213/ab960f
Comments
© 2020. The American Astronomical Society.