A new global study of gravitational waves – 'ripples' in space-time predicted by Einstein in 1916 – has unveiled new insights into black hole behavior. 

More than 80 Australian researchers, among over 600 scientists globally, have published data on the whole catalogue of gravitational-wave observations accumulated since 2015.

Gravitational waves are produced by violent cosmic events such as black holes colliding and merging. In total, 218 events have been recorded with 161 of the most significant revealing three types of binary mergers: binary neutron star, neutron star-black hole and binary black hole mergers, according to a statement released Thursday by Australia's Monash University.

Black holes are regions in space with such immense gravitational pull that nothing, not even light, can escape it. This makes them difficult to detect with conventional telescopes, the statement said, adding they are characterized by their masses, measured in units equivalent to the mass of our Sun, and their spins.

Many aspects of these black holes and the stars that form them remain a mystery, said lead Australian author Christian Adamcewicz from Monash University and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery.

"Taking the 161 mergers seen in the last decade, we've been able to decipher aspects of their behavior from their masses," Adamcewicz said.

"We found that most black holes have masses less than about 40 times that of our Sun," he said.

"For a while, we've had this hypothesis that heavy black hole progenitors, the stars we would normally expect to turn into black holes heavier than 40 Suns, create supernovae so explosive that any evidence of them is annihilated," Adamcewicz said.

He said the newly discovered drop off in observations matches that prediction.

(All images via VCG)