The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) has done it again, detecting gravitational waves rippling away from a cosmic collision between a pair of black holes. Only this time, the pair met around 3 billion light-years away.

This is the third time the observatory has successfully measured such an event, but just when you think you've seen it all before, this collision comes with a literal twist – at least one of the black holes seems to be spinning in an unusual direction.

You might remember that LIGO's first big hit was announced back in February 2016, a cautious five months after theoretical ripples in space-time predicted by general relativity were first observed.

A second set of waves was also detected on Christmas Day 2015, making for one colossal stocking filler for scientists.