The black hole that resulted from the merger had a mass of 48.7 times that of the Sun. In terms of mass, that places this event in the middle of the two mergers that were identified during LIGO's previous run.
Those of you who are quick with math will recognize that leaves two solar masses of material missing that was converted into energy and radiated away in the form of gravitational waves during the merger. For a brief moment, the collision radiated away 1056 ergs a second (or 1034 megatons). That's enough to let us notice it, even though it was three billion light years away, the farthest event yet detected through gravitational waves.
Wow. Imagine that. The mass of two suns being converted into energy in a moment. Think off all the energy the sun will give off over its billions of years, double that and burn it all in a second.
Somewhat related, I like to wonder if black holes are the cause of big bangs (we miss you fotze). A universe is what pops out the other side when one forms. Fun to think about.
http://www.nature.com/news/did-a-hyp...iverse-1.13743