Clinton Obiakalusi | The Monarch Ranger
Collisions between two black holes which produces gravitational waves that ripples through the space medium. Image credit: MIT official YouTube
Although Einstein’s general relativity has withstood several critics and the test of time, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) has provided a heart-warming discovery by capturing, perhaps, the first physical gravitational wave from the collision of two black holes and gives room for other discoveries.
General relativity, published by Einstein in 1915, provides our current gravity description used worldwide. It describes gravity as a curvature in the space-time dimensions caused by super-massive bodies in space. Also, it gives insights into possible other physical evidence of gravitational waves that ripple through the dynamic material of space. However, these postulates, although widespread, had no quantifiable evidence.
On September 14th, 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) made a historic detection when its detectors in Washington and Louisiana captured a signal that matched the predicted signature of a gravitational wave. The signal was created by the obscure collision of two black holes, each about 30 times the mass of the sun located about 1.3 billion light years away from Earth.
This detection proved fruitful in several ways. First, it confirms the authenticity of the general relativity, which proved valid, but had never been directly tested in a strong field and high energy regime where gravitational waves are produced. Second, it reveals a fresh alternative of observing the universe in a completely different way than with conventional or traditional telescopes. Third, it provides a new tool to access the properties of black holes and other prominent bodies in the universe, such as neutron stars.
After its prior detection, the LIGO and its European counterpart, the Virgo detector, have made various subsequent detections of gravitational waves and a burst of light rays across the electromagnetic spectrum. As a result of these observations, we have gained new insights into the nature of gravity, the characteristics of black holes and neutron stars, and the origins and evolution of the universe.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND LEARN MORE
A special thanks to the research of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This article was written by Clinton Obiakalusi. Learn more about him and our other staff writers here.
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