NEW RIPPLES IN SPACE-TIME FOUND

Now is an astronomically important time. After 100 years of trying to prove components of Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, gravitational waves, which are distortions in space-time, were finally detected.

The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics was recently awarded to Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish and Kip Thorne for leading the effort with the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) and the Virgo Collaboration, which included over 1,000 researchers around the world, along with 440,000 active Einstein@Home users.

General relativity is considered probably the most beautiful of all existing physical theories. It generalizes special relativity and Newton's law of universal gravitation, indicating that gravity is a geometric property of space and time, or spacetime.

The space-time continuum is a theoretical concept that helps us to understand how the universe works, from a macro level, looking at galaxies, to the tiniest levels, looking at atoms.

In Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, space-time is thought of as smooth and continuous. However, in the theory of quantum mechanics, spacetime is not always continuous.

Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of the universe that are detectable only as a result of extreme events, such as black holes or neutron stars colliding, or a supernova erupting.

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a large-scale physics experiment and observatory designed to detect cosmic gravitational waves. LIGO’s twin detectors, located in Louisiana and Washington state, use lasers to watch for tiny stretches and squeezes of space-time.

The scientists first detected a powerful signal that began with the merger of 2 black holes located 1.3 billion light-years from Earth. Individually they were 36 and 29 times our Sun’s mass -- together they comprised 62 solar masses. The excess radiated away as gravitational waves with an energy equivalent of about 5,000 supernovas.

As of August 2017, LIGO has made 5 detections of gravitational waves in total, including 3 more colliding black hole pairs. The 5th observation, on August 17, 2017, was the first detection of a collision of 2 neutron stars.

“If you own any gold or platinum, you own a fossil from a neutron star-neutron star collision,” explains David Spergel, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Computational Astrophysics at the Flatiron Institute and the Charles A. Young Professor of Astronomy Professor of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University.

“Up to now, astronomers have only seen the universe. With the detection of gravitational waves, we have for the first time heard the universe. This new way of observing the universe will likely reveal surprises,” Spergel tells us. “Every time that we find a new way of studying the universe, the universe surprises us.”

The initial LIGO observatories, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), conceived, built, and operated by Caltech and MIT, collected data from 2002 to 2010 but did not detect any gravitational waves.

The Advanced LIGO Project began in 2008 has benefitted from important contributions from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council, the Max Planck Society, and the Australian Research Council. The improved detectors began operation in 2015.

Their discovery has launched a new branch of astronomy to complement electromagnetic telescopes and neutrino observatories.

Ligo is currently paused but will start running again in Fall 2018.

Read more about Beautiful Time in  10 Watches With Beautiful Surprises, The Beauty of Time Worth Saving: 10 Ideas, 10 Beautiful Places Running out of time and Time to See Their Beauty Before They Disappear.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: Binary Neutron Star inspiral (AEI). Courtesy of LIGO Caltech.
2. Image: “Two Black Holes Merge into One.” Animation created by Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes (SXS) project. Courtesy of LIGO.
3. Image: “Access road next to one of LIGO Hanford's concrete-encased vacuum tubes.” Courtesy of LIGO.
4. Image: “LIGO Detects Gravitational Waves from Merging Black Holes.” Courtesy of LIGO, NSF, & Aurore Simonnet (Sonoma State University).
5. Image: “Two merging neutron stars.” Artist’s illustration. Courtesy of NSF/LIGO/Sonoma State University/A. Simonnet.
6. Image: “Time-exposure shot of one of LIGO’s interferometer arms in Livingston, Louisiana, the red lights symbolize gravitational waves.” Courtesy of LIGO.
7. Image: “Where the Gravitational Waves Came From.” Courtesy of LIGO, Axel Mellinger.
8. Image: “The LIGO Laboratory detector site near Livingston, Louisiana.” Courtesy of LIGO.
9. Image: ”0.2 Seconds before the black holes collide.” Courtesy of Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes (SXS) project and LIGO.
10. Image: by Dr. Daven Henze. “3D visualization of gravitational waves produced by 2 orbiting black holes.” Courtesy of NASA.
11. Image: “Neutron Stars Rip Each Other Apart to Form Black Hole.” Courtesy of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
12. Image: by BN App - Download now!
13. Image: “Computer simulation shows the collision of two black holes, as observed by LIGO.” Courtesy of LIGO.