Last few orbits of a binary black hole merger: Face-on

There’s an updated, wider version of this video at !!! *Watching this in 720p HD is highly recommended!* This is a physically accurate gravitational lensing visualization of the last few orbits of a binary black hole merger. The camera is above the orbital plane of the merger, looking down. The mass ratio is 3 to 1. The large black hole has a dimensionless spin of 0.7, whereas the small hole’s dimensionless spin is 0.3, with both spins in arbitrary directions. This is case 4 of Phys. Rev. D, 88:124010, Dec 2013, . Another view of this merger can be seen here: A video of the apparent horizons of this binary can be found here: More information about this system and lensing of the system can be found in “What would a binary black hole merger look like?“ This movie was created by SXS Le