Posted on 02/11/2016 4:37:17 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Explanation: Gravitational radiation has been directly detected. The first-ever detection was made by both facilities of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in Washington and Louisiana simultaneously last September. After numerous consistency checks, the resulting 5-sigma discovery was published today. The measured gravitational waves match those expected from two large black holes merging after a death spiral in a distant galaxy, with the resulting new black hole momentarily vibrating in a rapid ringdown. A phenomenon predicted by Einstein, the historic discovery confirms a cornerstone of humanity's understanding of gravity and basic physics. It is also the most direct detection of black holes ever. The featured illustration depicts the two merging black holes with the signal strength of the two detectors over 0.3 seconds superimposed across the bottom. Expected future detections by Advanced LIGO and other gravitational wave detectors may not only confirm the spectacular nature of this measurement but hold tremendous promise of giving humanity a new way to see and explore our universe.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Illustration Credit: LIGO, NSF, Aurore Simonnet (Sonoma State U.)]
Gravitational radiation? Wow..
And here I thought it was Puppy Love.
Why heavenly bodies attract?
Mystery solved. :-)
I thought I felt something funny pass through my body that day in Sept last year. Now I know what it was.
:/
LIGO? Black Holes?
sexist & racist /s
Thanks, ‘Civ. Amazing.
Wow Einstein has been on a roll this week.
The Big One is mesmerizing at the APOD site.
Sad that Einstein is no longer with us, as he predicted what we’re seeing here.
Thank you for the post and ping as ever, Mr. Civilizations.
Bryan and I used to joke around about “gravity waves,” and who knew that we
actually weren’t kidding! Without knowing it. ;-)
For me gravity gets heavier every year.
So is this some indication that black holes actually exist and not just in theory?
Not the same waves. These black holes expended 5 solar masses of energy making these waves. This is actually a monumental achievement. They have been trying to directly detect gravity waves for decades. The precision required is smaller than the width of an atomic nucleus. Even Einstein though they would never detect them directly. Nobel prizes are coming if this result survives peer review. (Earned Nobels ,unlike the peace prize!)
Catch 22...
So does this discovery mean anything in the realm of the potential for gravitational manipulation? Anti-gravity, artificial gravity, gravity drives, etc? Or is it mostly just an astronomy tool?
I have been reading about the last few days. If confirmed it is HUGE new.
I look forward to hearing about zero-point energy calculations as a result of the gravitational wave data.
“These black holes expended 5 solar masses of energy making these waves.” Really? Prove it.
They just did using Einstein’s equations.
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