Overview
- Researchers from the University of Birmingham, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, and the Max Planck Institute report the result in The Astrophysical Journal Letters after reanalyzing GW200105.
- The new waveform model simultaneously tests orbital eccentricity and spin-induced precession in LIGO–Virgo data, enabling a direct measurement of non-circular motion.
- Bayesian model comparison excludes a circular orbit with 99.5% confidence for this neutron star–black hole merger.
- Revised parameters show a remnant about 13 times the Sun’s mass, correcting earlier mass estimates that assumed a circular inspiral.
- No compelling precession is detected, and the measured eccentricity points to a dynamical formation channel, prompting calls for improved waveform templates and targeted searches for more eccentric mergers.