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takyon writes:

Okay, Last Year's Kilonova Did Probably Create a Black Hole

In August of 2017 [open, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.161101] [DX], another major breakthrough occurred when the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detected waves that were believed to be caused by a neutron star merger. Shortly thereafter, scientists at LIGO, Advanced Virgo, and the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope were able to determine where in the sky this event (known as a kilonova) occurred.

This source, known as GW170817/GRB, has been the target of many follow-up surveys since it was believed that the merge could have led to the formation of a black hole. According to a new study by a team that analyzed data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory since the event, scientists can now say with greater confidence that the merger created a new black hole in our galaxy.

[...] While the LIGO data provided astronomers with a good estimate of the resulting object's mass after the neutron stars merged (2.7 Solar Masses), this was not enough to determine what it had become. Essentially, this amount of mass meant that it was either the most massive neutron star ever found or the lowest-mass black hole ever found (the previous record holders being four or five Solar Masses).

Previously: "Kilonova" Observed Using Gravitational Waves, Sparking Era of "Multimessenger Astrophysics"
Neutron-Star Merger Grows Brighter

Original Submission