GW230529
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| Event type | Gravitational wave |
|---|---|
| Date | Detected 29 May 2023, 18:15:00.7 UTC |
| Instrument | LIGO |
| Distance | c. 201 Mpc |
| Redshift | 0.04+0.02 −0.02 |
| Progenitor type | Neutron star-black hole binary |
GW230529 was a gravitational wave observed by the LIGO Livingston detector on 29 May 2023, produced as the result of the merger of a low-mass black hole and a neutron star. It is the first event published by LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) collaboration as part of the O4 observing run (started on 23 May 2023), with a dedicated paper.
Its main scientific interest is the low mass of the black hole, estimated to range between 2.5 and 4.5 solar masses (M☉). This places it within the "mass gap" (generally defined as ranging from 3 to 5 M☉), a mass interval where very few objects are observed within the Milky Way. Indeed, this type of object would be too massive to be a neutron star, but too light to be a black hole formed by a supernova according to most models.[1]
GW230529 is the result of the merger of a 3.6+0.8
−1.2 M☉ object (thought to be a light black hole) and a 1.4+0.6
−0.2 M☉ object (thought to be a neutron star). It occurred at an estimated distance of 201+102
−96 Mpc.[1] While it is unlikely, the mass range for the primary object does not completely exclude the possibility that it is a heavy neutron star.[2]
