Simulation of the binary black-hole coalescence GW170104

Simulation of the binary black-hole coalescence GW170104

Numerical simulation of a black-hole merger consistent with LIGO's GW170104 observation. The strength of the gravitational wave is indicated by the elevation of the bands, as well as color, with blue indicating weak fields and yellow, strong fields. The amplitude of the gravitational wave is rescaled during the simulation to show the signal during the entire animation. The sizes of the black holes are increased by a factor of two. The bottom panel in the video shows the gravitational waveform. Simulation credit: S. Ossokine/A. Buonanno/T. Dietrich (MPI for Gravitational Physics)/R. Haas (NCSA)/SXS project