The Gravitational Wave Transient Catalog 4: Overview and Highlights

The worldwide network of gravitational-wave (GW) detectors, comprised of the Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo, and KAGRA detectors has been increasing in sensitivity, range, and hence quantity and quality of detected GW signals from compact binary coalescences. We present the compact binary signals observed and included in the GW Transient Catalog 4 (GWTC-4), i.e. up to and including the first part of the fourth observing run of the detectors (O4a). We estimate the source properties, and provide new insight into compact objects in binaries - and to what may lay ahead.