Astronomers have published the largest gravitational wave catalog to date, bringing the total number of confirmed detections to 390. The update includes signals recorded through early 2025 by the international LVK network of detectors.
The Gravitational Wave Transient Catalogue-5.0, released by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration, incorporates 161 new black hole merger signals detected between April 2024 and January 2025. Researchers at the University of Glasgow contributed to detector technology and data analysis for the project.
Key records in the catalog include the clearest signal yet recorded, GW250114, which reached Earth on January 14, 2025, and the most precise sky localization of any gravitational wave source, achieved for event GW240615 on June 15, 2024. The data also provide further evidence of second-generation black holes formed through prior mergers.
Scientists used the expanded set of observations to refine measurements of the Hubble constant, which describes the rate of the universe's expansion. The catalog's release marks a shift toward population studies of black holes rather than analysis of single events.