Tag: LIGO

  • Neutron star collision an astronomical gold mine

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION An artist’s impression of two neutron stars merging in a cataclysmic collision, generating an explosive burst of light and gravity waves, squeezing and compressing space itself as they radiate away. On Aug. 17, astronomers detected both gravity waves and visible light from the merger of two neutron stars.…

  • Black holes crash together and make waves

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Artist’s conception shows two merging black holes similar to those detected by LIGO. The black holes are spinning in a non-aligned fashion, which means they have different orientations relative to the overall orbital motion of the pair. LIGO found hints that at least one black hole in the…

  • Gravitational wave testbed repurposed as comet dust detector

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    In the final months of Europe’s LISA Pathfinder mission, scientists have found an unexpected use for the trailblazing testbed for a future gravitational wave observatory by tracking the tiny dings made by microscopic particles that strike the spacecraft in deep space, exploiting the impacts to learn about the population of dust grains cast off by…

  • Gravitational waves detected, opening new era in astronomy

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Artist’s concept of two merging black holes. Credit: NASA A century after Albert Einstein predicted their existence, gravitational waves have finally been detected, tiny ripples in the fabric of spacetime that were generated when two massive black holes, spinning around each other and radiating away gravitational energy, crashed…