First-ever complete measurement of a black-hole recoil achieved thanks to gravitational waves

A team of researchers led by the Instituto Galego de Física de Altas Enerxías (IGFAE) from the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) has measured for the first time the speed and direction of the recoil of a newborn black hole formed through the merger of two others. The result, published today in the journal Nature Astronomy, offers new insights into some of the most extreme events in the universe.