The machines that gave scientists their first-ever glimpse at gravitational waves are the most advanced detectors ever built for sensing tiny vibrations in the universe.
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“Our group has been solving Einstein’s equations on supercomputers to predict the precise form of the signal that should be seen”.
It took supercomputers to measure it, but what’s even more sublime is that Einstein conceived of this phenomenon 100 years ago and that the waves match his equation.
“Apart from testing general relativity, we could hope to see black holes throughout the history of the universe”. The theory predicted the existence of gravitational waves in space-time.
According to Professor Li, the project will be carried out in four stages over the next 15 to 20 years, including the launch of three high-orbit satellites to detect gravitational waves.
“The observed properties of this system is consistent with predictions about black holes that I made in 1970 here in Cambridge”.
Scientists at Sheffield University have helped to make one of the biggest space discoveries of all time which looks set to herald a new type of astronomy and unlock wonders of the universe.
The gravitational waves were detected on September 14, 2015 at 5:51 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time by both of the twin Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors, located in Livingston, Louisiana, and Hanford, Washington, USA.
Here’s Ed Greenberger with more on this big discovery.
The historic detection of gravitational waves – ripples in spacetime itself – has thrown the scientific community into a paroxysms of joy. The black holes then collided at half the speed of light, he said, creating the gravitational waves that were able to be measured from LIGO’s two observatories inWashington State and Louisiana.
“It opens a new window on the universe, like the invention of the telescope or discovery of radio waves from space”, he said.
This energy is emitted in a burst of gravitational waves.
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“We have a completely new tool to study the universe and answer questions which were not answerable so far”, Stojkovic says. To this end, Hughes has modeled the “sounds” of a host of astrophysical events, including colliding black holes.
