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We describe the observation of GW170104, a gravitational-wave signal produced by the coalescence of a pair of stellar-mass black holes. The signal was measured on January 4, 2017 at 10∶11: 58. 6 UTC by the twin advanced detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory during their second observing run, with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 13 and a false alarm rate less than 1 in 70 000 years. The inferred component black hole masses are 31. 2-₆. ₀^+8. 4M⊙ and 19. 4-₅. ₉^+5. 3M⊙ (at the 90% credible level). The black hole spins are best constrained through measurement of the effective inspiral spin parameter, a mass-weighted combination of the spin components perpendicular to the orbital plane, χ₄₅₅=-0. 12-₀. ₃₀^+0. 21. This result implies that spin configurations with both component spins positively aligned with the orbital angular momentum are disfavored. The source luminosity distance is 880-₃₉₀^+450 Mpc corresponding to a redshift of z=0. 18-₀. ₀₇^+0. 08. We constrain the magnitude of modifications to the gravitational-wave dispersion relation and perform null tests of general relativity. Assuming that gravitons are dispersed in vacuum like massive particles, we bound the graviton mass to m₆≤7. 7×10^-23 eV/c^2. In all cases, we find that GW170104 is consistent with general relativity.
Abbott et al. (2017) studied this question.