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GW170608: Observation of a 19-solar-mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence
By B. P. Abbott et al
Published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters 851, L35 (Sunday, December 10, 2017)

Abstract

On June 8, 2017 at 02:01:16.49 UTC, a gravitational-wave signal from the merger of two stellar-mass black holes was observed by the two Advanced LIGO detectors with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 13. This system is the lightest black hole binary so far observed, with component masses 12+7−2M⊙ and 7+2−2M⊙ (90% credible intervals). These lie in the range of measured black hole masses in low-mass X-ray binaries, thus allowing us to compare black holes detected through gravitational waves with electromagnetic observations. The source's luminosity distance is 340+140−140 Mpc, corresponding to redshift 0.07+0.03−0.03. We verify that the signal waveform is consistent with the predictions of general relativity.