An artist's impression of two black holes merging, which can be detected on Earth through the gravitational waves the collision creates. (Victor de Schwanberg/SPL)

CBC Manitoba: Manitoba researchers part of team working to unravel mystery of largest black hole merger ever detected

July 20, 2025 —

A group of Manitoba researchers were involved behind the scenes of an international effort that this week revealed how two massive black holes careened into one — happily, billions of light years from Earth.

University of Manitoba astrophysicist Samar Safi-Harb, the Canada Research Chair in Extreme Astrophysics, and her team are collaborators on the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA program, which on Monday published evidence of what Safi-Harb says is “the most massive binary black hole detected to date.”

Another surprise from the detection, originally made in November 2023, was the breakneck speed at which each black hole was spinning at the time they crashed together — “close to the maximum possible [speed] allowed by theory,” said Safi-Harb, who is also a professor of physics and astronomy at the Winnipeg-based U of M.

To read the entire story, please follow the link to CBC Manitoba.

CTV also covered this story and you can listen/watch it by following the link to CTV Winnipeg.

Faculty of Science, Faculty of Science research, Faculty of Science students, Physics and Astronomy

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