Jane DoeCan you imagine the occurrence of a cataclysmic event which started about 1.3 billion years ago? How the two black holes swirled closer and closer together until they crashed in a furious bang. These black holes packed roughly 30 times the mass of our sun into a minute volume, and their head-on impact came as the two were approaching the speed of light. This was due to the staggering strength of the merger which gave rise to a new black hole. As a result the gravitational field was so strong that it distorted spacetime in waves that spread throughout space. The power of these gravitational waves is about 50 times stronger than that of all the shining stars and galaxies in the observable universe.
Such events are, incredibly, thought to be common in space, but this collision was the first of its kind ever detected and its waves the first ever seen. With this sensational discovery of gravitational waves here are some of the things which scientists aim to study:
Diversified study about the happenings in universe
As you must knowing light is the potential element to study about various events occuring in universe. Then can you imagine how can the scientists study about black holes because they don’t emit any light. Also black holes are invisible objects. The discovery of gravitational waves radiating from these structures is the only source to find and study such events. Although light is often blocked by dust and gas, but the gravitational waves come out without any hindrance.
Detection of black holes and its existence
We can bet that the scientists who have witnessed this event would be thrilled and amazed. The waves came were released from two black holes circling each other came closer and closer and finally collided. All of us were surrounded with various hypothesis regarding black holes till now. And the reason was absence of substantial proof. Now we have a direct evidence to the phenomenon which had puzzled us for centuries.
Two Black Holes Merging Into One
Substantiating the Theory of Relativity
You will be surprised to know that decades ago Einstein’s theory of general relativity had already predicted the gravitational waves. And this even got published in 1916. That famous theory has stood up to all kinds of physical tests, but there are some aspects that scientists haven’t been able to study in the real world, because they require very extreme circumstances. The extreme wrenching of space-time caused by this massive explosion is one example of this theory.
Unraveling mysteries about the Universe
As we have been continuously evolving, so is this universe. “This detection is the one which will give humanity the ability to see the universe in a totally new way” the scientists have commented. These gravitational waves are generated by the acceleration or deceleration of massive objects in space. And their detection has been compared to a deaf person suddenly gaining the ability to hear sound.
LIGO’s gravitational wave experiments and its future
LIGO and future gravitational wave experiments will also allow physicists to put general relativity to the test. The 100-year-old theory has stood the test of time but it still conflicts.
With this discovery, we humans are embarking on a marvelous new quest: the quest to explore the warped side of the universe – objects and phenomena that are made from warped spacetime. Colliding black holes and gravitational waves are our first beautiful examples,” says Dr. Thorne of Caltech.
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