Two enormous black holes collided 1.3 billion light-years away in the universe. This gave rise to the gravitational waves that last September was intercepted by Ligo (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory) in the United States. Yesterday, the feat was announced at a press conference in Washington.
The gravitational waves predicted by Einstein’s general theory of gravity, and is formed when large masses in motion. The scientists at Ligo have been looking for evidence of their existence for 10 years, but until now they have not been able to observe.
The event that generated them was a collision between two massive black holes, each 36 and 29 times heavier than the sun. When they slapped together formed a new black hole, with 62 solar masses. The excess energy in the form of three solar masses sent out in the form of gravitational waves, gravitational radiation, or as it is also called. It was all over in 0.2 seconds.
– When the signal was strongest radiation was 50 times stronger than that of the universe, all the stars together. It was a huge force that shook the rigid spacetime and gave rise to the gravitational waves that are detected, says Ulf Danielsson.
The enormous power despite the wave amplitude is not greater than one-thousandth of the diameter of a proton. That’s because the space-time rigidity makes it difficult to put in motion. Although it could signal detection of both the plants together form Ligo (see box).
– the technical feat of capturing signals is enormous, says Ulf Danielsson.
What impact will the discovery?
– it can lead to a huge revolution in astronomy similar to that which occurred when Galileo Galilei began to use the telescope to study the sky. Through gravitational waves, we can get new information about the universe that can not be obtained any other way.
– In addition, we get a chance to test general relativity in extreme condition, for example, what happens in near black holes collide with each other.
Meanwhile, says Ulf Danielsson to the discovery once for all states that black holes really exist, it has previously only held through indirect observations.
the signal was picked up by LIGO was exactly with that of the general theory of relativity arises when two black holes collide with each other. According to the theory provides such a crash is very simple and clean signals.
– The frequency of the gravitational waves that occur when they rotate around each other increases as they get closer to each other. When they collide, a peak of the signal, a kind of crescendo. Since a signal generated by the new larger hole that vibrate before it comes to rest.
What happens now?
– There are rumors that researchers have more events among their data is very small and difficult to see. It will surely come. A third instrument, VIRGO, is also underway in France. It will go to drive together with the other two in Ligo, and then you get the opportunity to see more precisely where in the sky events.
The researchers’ results are published in the scientific journal Physical Review Letters.
See the researcher Nergis Mavalava at Ligo and MIT explain how measurements of gravitational waves go to via film clip above!
via Youtube you can listen to how it sounds if you translate gravitational waves into sound.
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