GW150914 is the first directly detected gravitational wave, interpreted as a binary black hole inspiral, merger and ringdown. Its discovery paper reports a peak projected gravitational wave strain of approximately and a combined matched filter signal-to-noise ratio of 24. The inferred source-frame component masses were and solar masses, with 90 percent credible intervals. These are model-dependent estimates from a detector network.[ref]
Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger by B. P. Abbott and others. Abstract; II Observation; VI Source discussion, Table I
The interesting measurement is a chain: curvature changes relative light travel times, wave interference turns those changes into a photodetector signal, calibrated records from separate sites constrain a common source, and statistical inference tests competing explanations. The following original models explain that chain; the plotted time series are stipulated calculations, never measured GW150914 data.
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