![]() For black holes that are similar in mass to the Sun, scientists use the LIGO detector on Earth. If two very dense objects (like black holes) orbit each other closely, they warp space and send out gravitational waves. But we are now able to measure gravitational waves, which are ripples in the fabric of the Universe predicted by Albert Einstein. Neutron stars are small, about the size of a city, but are extremely heavy, the compact remains of a larger star that died in a supernova explosion.Until recently, the only way to observe the Universe was from light received by telescopes. Scientists have known the existence of small black holes and so-called supermassive black holes are millions or billions of times as massive as the sun, but had debated the existence of black holes of intermediate size. The detection of gravitational waves already has provided unique insight into black holes, with the scientists saying it has demonstrated that there are plenty of black holes in the range of tens of solar masses, resolving the long debated issue of the existence of black holes of that size.Ī black hole, a region of space so packed with matter that not even photons of light can escape the force of gravity, was detected for the first time in 1971. He said that when these objects collide, they send out ripples in the curvature of space and time that propagate as gravitational waves. #LIGO- said heavy celestial objects bend space and time but because of the relative weakness of the gravitational force the effect is miniscule except from massive and dense bodies like black holes and neutron stars. ![]() “Gravitational Wave Astronomer” is a real job now instead of just the coolest lie on a resumé ever. "It opens a brand new window on the universe." "It is really a truly, truly exciting event," said Abhay Ashtekar, director of Penn State University's Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos. ![]() Scientists sounded positively giddy over the discovery. Black holes, for example, do not emit light, radio waves and the like, but can be studied via gravitational waves. Gravitational waves experience no such barriers, meaning they can offer a wealth of additional information. But because such waves encounter interference as they travel across the universe, they can tell only part of the story. #LIGO /uiN9iYmRDe- Einstein's general theory of relativity at 100: 5 great things it broughtĮverything we know about the cosmos so far stems from electromagnetic waves such as radio waves, visible light, infrared light, X-rays and gamma rays. "It's easier to find things if you know what you're looking for," Pfeiffer told CBC News ahead of the announcement. In particular, they helped predict what gravity waves from different kinds of black hole collisions might look like. Harald Pfeiffer and his team at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Toronto helped make the software used to analyze the data and look for gravity waves. We have been able to see and now we will be able to hear as well." "We are really witnessing the opening of a new tool for doing astronomy," MIT astrophysicist Nergis Mavalvala said in an interview. The scientists said they first detected the gravitational waves last Sept. "We're getting a signal which arrives at Earth, and we can put it on a speaker, and we can hear these black holes go, 'Whoop.' There's a very visceral connection to this observation." "We're actually hearing them go thump in the night," MIT physicist Matthew Evans said. After detecting the gravitational wave signal, the scientists said they converted it into audio waves and were able to listen to the sounds of the two black holes merging. They are able to detect remarkably small vibrations from passing gravitational waves. The two laser instruments, which work in unison, are known as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). Detecting the gravitational waves required measuring 4 kilometre (2.5 mile) laser beams to a precision 10,000 times smaller than a proton. Like light, gravity travels in waves, but instead of radiation, it is space itself that is rippling. University of Toronto's LIGO team members Harald Pfeiffer, Heather Fong and Prayush Kumar used supercomputers to solve general relativity equations and predict what gravitational waves would look like if they came from different kinds of black hole and neutron star collisions.
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