Gravitational waves, the cosmic ripples that distort space-time itself, have been directly detected for the first time. In a highly anticipated announcement today (Feb. 11, 2016), researchers affiliated with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) reported the detection of gravitational waves. The signal picked up by LIGO came from the collision of two black holes and was detected on Sept. 14, 2015 by LIGO's twin detectors in Livingston, Louisiana and Hanford, Washington, scientists said.
This cosmic crash sent gravitational waves streaming outward at the speed of light, causing ripples in the fabric of space-time, similar to how a dropped pebble disturbs a still pond. Researchers said the collision occurred 1.3 billion years ago between black holes that were about 29 and 36 times more massive than the sun, respectively. During the crash, about three times the mass of the sun was converted into gravitational waves in less than a second, generating a peak power output of about 50 times that of the entire visible universe, they added.
"Our observation of gravitational waves accomplishes an ambitious goal set out over five decades ago to directly detect this elusive phenomenon and better understand the universe, and, fittingly, Einstein's legacy on the 100th anniversary of his general theory of relativity," said LIGO Laboratory executive director David Reitze, of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, in a statement.
The detection is a milestone moment in astronomy and astrophysics. Unlike light waves, gravitational waves don't get distorted or altered by interactions with matter as they race through space; they therefore carry "pure" information about the objects and events that created them, according to LIGO researchers.
"With this completely new way of examining astrophysical objects and phenomena, gravitational waves will truly open a new window on the universe, providing astronomers and other scientists with their first glimpses of previously unseen and unseeable wonders, and greatly adding to our understanding of the nature of space and time itself," LIGO team members wrote in an online description of the project.
Gravitational waves were first predicted by Albert Einstein in his famous 1916 paper on general relativity. One of the central, and strangest, tenets of general relativity is that space and time are not separate things but rather are linked together in a single fabric: space-time. Massive objects, like stars, stretch and curve this fabric, sort of like how a bowling ball distorts a rubber sheet. These dips cause objects such as planets, and even light, to take a curved path around those more massive bodies.
Gravitational waves affect this fabric as well, causing ripplelike distortions. Previous studies have confirmed the existence of gravitational waves — which are generated by the acceleration (or deceleration) of massive objects — through indirect methods, but the LIGO find is the first
This cosmic crash sent gravitational waves streaming outward at the speed of light, causing ripples in the fabric of space-time, similar to how a dropped pebble disturbs a still pond. Researchers said the collision occurred 1.3 billion years ago between black holes that were about 29 and 36 times more massive than the sun, respectively. During the crash, about three times the mass of the sun was converted into gravitational waves in less than a second, generating a peak power output of about 50 times that of the entire visible universe, they added.
"Our observation of gravitational waves accomplishes an ambitious goal set out over five decades ago to directly detect this elusive phenomenon and better understand the universe, and, fittingly, Einstein's legacy on the 100th anniversary of his general theory of relativity," said LIGO Laboratory executive director David Reitze, of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, in a statement.
The detection is a milestone moment in astronomy and astrophysics. Unlike light waves, gravitational waves don't get distorted or altered by interactions with matter as they race through space; they therefore carry "pure" information about the objects and events that created them, according to LIGO researchers.
"With this completely new way of examining astrophysical objects and phenomena, gravitational waves will truly open a new window on the universe, providing astronomers and other scientists with their first glimpses of previously unseen and unseeable wonders, and greatly adding to our understanding of the nature of space and time itself," LIGO team members wrote in an online description of the project.
Gravitational waves were first predicted by Albert Einstein in his famous 1916 paper on general relativity. One of the central, and strangest, tenets of general relativity is that space and time are not separate things but rather are linked together in a single fabric: space-time. Massive objects, like stars, stretch and curve this fabric, sort of like how a bowling ball distorts a rubber sheet. These dips cause objects such as planets, and even light, to take a curved path around those more massive bodies.
Gravitational waves affect this fabric as well, causing ripplelike distortions. Previous studies have confirmed the existence of gravitational waves — which are generated by the acceleration (or deceleration) of massive objects — through indirect methods, but the LIGO find is the first
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