The LIGO-Virgo collaboration announced today that a third gravitational wave signal (GW170104) was detected on January 4th, 2017, adding to the project’s two previous history-making discoveries of last year! This signal, like the two before it, was the result of a pair of black holes colliding and merging at a staggering distance of 3 billion light-years away. “LIGO is opening up a new way to explore our universe, including populations of elusive black holes,” Dr.Key said (as quoted in a news release from UW Bothell). “This is a significant discovery of a new black hole collision, adding to our map of black hole systems and utilizing the increased sensitivity of the LIGO detectors.”
For more information on GW170104 and its implications for the future of astronomy, click here to view the official LIGO press release on the subject. For more on the GWA group’s involvement, click here for UW Bothell’s news release.