#ThisDayinTech: Scientists capture sharpest look yet at merging black holes
On September 10, 2025, scientists shared that they caught the sharpest look so far at two black holes merging—an event that actually happened back in January.
These black holes, each over 30 times heavier than our Sun, collided 1.3 billion light-years away and formed a new, even bigger black hole spinning almost 100 times per second.
LIGO observatories detected gravitational waves
The LIGO observatories in Washington and Louisiana picked up the gravitational waves from this epic collision.
The signal lasted just 210 milliseconds but was captured with four times more detail than LIGO's first-ever detection in 2015.
Research backs up Stephen Hawking's predictions
This discovery backs up Stephen Hawking's prediction that the surface area of a black hole can't shrink after a merger—the area actually grew from about 240,000 to nearly 400,000 square kilometers.
It also supports Einstein's theory of general relativity and helps us understand what really happens when black holes collide.
For science fans, it's another step closer to unlocking the universe's biggest mysteries!