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Event

GW170817

A glowing ring of light with a bright streak in the center, set against a starry backdrop, represents the gravitational-wave signal from GW170817, a binary neutron-star merger detected by LIGO and Virgo.

The gravitational-wave signal from a binary neutron-star merger detected on 17 August 2017 by LIGO and Virgo. Seconds later the Fermi satellite recorded a short gamma-ray burst from the same patch of sky; over the following weeks ground-based telescopes captured the optical kilonova. It was the first cosmic event observed in both gravitational waves and light, and it settled the origin of the universe's heavy elements.

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