The global catalogue of gravitational-wave detections has grown dramatically with the release of GWTC-5.0, containing 161 new signals from colliding black holes observed between April 2024 and January 2025 by the LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA detectors. The release brings the total number of detected signals to 390, with the instruments now registering three to four events per week during observing runs. Accompanying papers were submitted to The Astrophysical Journal and The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Among the highlights are two events, GW241011 and GW241110, offering evidence of second-generation black holes formed from earlier mergers, and GW250114, the clearest signal yet recorded, with a signal-to-noise ratio of 76.9. That event allowed physicists to test general relativity, measure three vibrational modes of a black hole, and confirm Hawking's black hole area theorem. Another event, GW240615, was localised to within about six square degrees, the most precise sky position yet for a gravitational-wave source.
The University of Glasgow's Institute for Gravitational Research, part of the School of Physics and Astronomy, has contributed to the field since the 1970s and led development of the mirror suspensions at the heart of the LIGO detectors. Glasgow researchers contributed to the catalogue's analyses, including population studies of 267 sources showing that black holes in different mass ranges have different spins. The UK work is supported by the Science and Technology Facilities Council.