The new LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA Catalog sets new records in precision gravitational astronomy
The LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA Collaboration published today a new catalog of gravitational wave events. A total of 161 events, detected between April 2024 and the end of January 2025, have been added to the collection, bringing the total number of gravitational wave signals detected to date to 390. Among the most significant findings are: evidence for the existence of second-generation black holes, the most precise sky localization ever achieved for a gravitational wave source, and the first measurement of three vibrational modes of a black hole. A wealth of results that marks the coming of age of gravitational astronomy.
The international network of gravitational wave detectors LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA (LVK) has announced today the online release of an updated catalog of all gravitational wave events observed to date, named the Gravitational Wave Transient Catalogue-5.0 (GWTC-5), with the corresponding scientific papers in submission to Astrophysical Journal and Astrophysical Journal Letters. The data analyzed in this work were collected by the detectors between April 2024 and the end of January 2025, during a portion of the fourth observing run (O4) known as O4b. During this period, 161 new gravitational wave events were detected, bringing the total number of confirmed events observed by the network since the first detection in 2015 to an astounding 390. The international LVK network consists of the twin detectors of the US National Science Foundation Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (NSF LIGO) , the Virgo detector hosted by the European Gravitational Observatory in Italy and the Japanese KAGRA hosted by the Institute for Cosmic Ray Research (ICRR) of the University of Tokyo.
“The new catalog is a gold mine of discoveries, but it also poses new challenges,” says Michela Mapelli, STRUCTURES professor at the Center for Astronomy of Heidelberg University and directly involved in the studies. “For example, the spins - that is, the magnitudes and orientations of the rotations - of the components of two new binary black hole systems, GW241011 and GW241110, are exactly what we expect for second-generation black holes: black holes formed through the merger of smaller black holes. However, the masses of these black holes, about 10–20 times the mass of the Sun, are lower than predicted by most theoretical models. This is a new enigma that will keep compact-object astrophysicists busy for quite some time!”
ADDITONAL INFORMATION on the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration
LIGO is funded by the NSF and operated by Caltech and MIT, which together conceived and built the project. Financial support for the Advanced LIGO project was led by the NSF with Germany (Max Planck Society), the United Kingdom (Science and Technology Facilities Council), and Australia (Australian Research Council) making significant commitments and contributions to the project. More than 1,600 scientists from around the world participate in the effort through the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, which includes the GEO Collaboration. Additional partners are listed at my.ligo.org/census.php.
The Virgo Collaboration is currently composed of approximately 1.000 members from 175 institutions in 20 different (mainly European) countries. The European Gravitational Observatory (EGO) hosts the Virgo detector near Pisa in Italy, and is funded by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France, the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) in Italy, the National Institute of Subatomic Physics (Nikhef) in the Netherlands, The Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) and the Belgian Fund for Scientific Research (F.R.S.–FNRS). A list of the Virgo Collaboration groups can be found at: https://www.virgo-gw.eu/about/scientific-collaboration/ More information is available on the Virgo website at https://www.virgo-gw.eu
KAGRA is the laser interferometer with 3-kilometer arm length in Kamioka, Gifu, Japan. The host institute is the Institute for Cosmic Ray Research (ICRR), the University of Tokyo, and the project is co-hosted by National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK). KAGRA collaboration is composed of more than 400 members from 128 institutes in 17 countries/regions. KAGRA’s information for general audiences is at the website gwcenter.icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/. Resources for researchers are accessible from gwwiki.icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp/JGWwiki/KAGRA.
RELATED PRESS RELEASES
https://www.virgo-gw.eu/news/the-new-ligo-virgo-kagra-catalog-sets-new-records-in-precision-gravitational-astronomy/
SCIENTIFIC CONTACT
Prof. Dr. Michela Mapelli
Centre for Astronomy of Heidelberg University (ZAH)
Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (ITA)
mapelli.astro(at)gmail.com
https://demoblack.com/
CONTACT FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES
Dr. Guido Thimm
Centre for Astronomy of Heidelberg University (ZAH)
thimm@uni-heidelberg.de
