{"id":18730,"date":"2017-11-17T17:02:23","date_gmt":"2017-11-17T09:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/ligo-gravitational-wave-hunters-get-lucky-and-find-smallest-black-hole-merger\/"},"modified":"2017-11-17T17:02:23","modified_gmt":"2017-11-17T09:02:23","slug":"ligo-gravitational-wave-hunters-get-lucky-and-find-smallest-black-hole-merger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/ligo-gravitational-wave-hunters-get-lucky-and-find-smallest-black-hole-merger\/","title":{"rendered":"LIGO gravitational-wave hunters get lucky and find smallest black hole merger"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_378114\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-378114\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-378114\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/171117-blackhole-630x479.jpg\" alt=\"Black holes\" width=\"630\" height=\"479\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/171117-blackhole-630x479.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/171117-blackhole.jpg 746w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-378114\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An artist\u2019s conception shows two black holes in the process of merging. (LIGO \/ Caltech \/ MIT Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It took months to figure it out, but the scientists in charge of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, or LIGO, have confirmed their observations of the most lightweight black hole merger yet.<\/p>\n<p>The latest detection provides further confirmation of Einstein\u2019s general theory of relativity \u2014 and will help physicists hone their routine for combining observations from different types of scientific instruments, an approach known as \u201cmulti-messenger astronomy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Scientists say the spike in gravitational waves known as GW170608, detected on June 8, was set off by the smashup of two black holes weighing seven and 12 times as much as our sun.<\/p>\n<p>The crash produced a merged black hole that\u2019s 18 times as massive as the sun, with the equivalent of one solar mass converted into the energy of the gravitational waves. Those waves rippled across the fabric of spacetime for roughly a billion years to trigger the LIGO detectors at Hanford, Wash., and Livingston, La.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=b0yle&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=931284374284152832&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2017%2Fligo-gravitational-wave-detectors-get-lucky-find-smallest-black-hole-merger%2F&amp;sessionId=e41e7a01ca0eb5b28efeb69488b615ec5b8b54e4&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"931284374284152832\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782801830571344597=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">In this video version, you can see just how much longer #GW170817 lasts compared to our black hole signals, even #GW170608. pic.twitter.com\/0zjof9jnYM<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 LIGO (@LIGO) November 16, 2017<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Confirming the detection was a close thing: LIGO\u2019s Livingston facility had a clear signal, but the equipment at Hanford was undergoing adjustments after a round of routine maintenance.<\/p>\n<p>Both of LIGO\u2019s detectors pick up on the ever-so-slight perturbations in spacetime by measuring minute changes in spatial dimensions, using a system of lasers and mirrors. At the time that the GW170608 signal arrived, Hanford\u2019s scientists were shaking the mirrors to check how much \u201cnoise\u201d there was in the system.<\/p>\n<p>To double-check the Livingston observations against the Hanford data, the LIGO team had to exclude the frequencies that were affected by the mirror-shaking exercise. Fortunately, scientists were still able to see the signature of the gravitational waves in the unaffected frequencies.<\/p>\n<p>Weeks later, in August, LIGO\u2019s detectors and the Virgo gravitational-wave observatory in Italy picked up signals from a bigger black hole merger as well as a clash of neutron stars. LIGO said in a news release that the time required to understand those discoveries forced a delay in the analysis and publication of the June 8 findings.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPretty much everything was dropped following the detection of our first binary neutron star system,\u201d Christopher Berry, a member of the LIGO team from the University of Birmingham in England, explained in a blog posting. Now the team is \u201cstarting to dig our way out\u201d of the data backlog, he said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_378107\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-378107\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-378107\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/171117-graveyard-630x496.jpg\" alt=\"Black holes and neutron stars\" width=\"630\" height=\"496\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/171117-graveyard-630x496.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/171117-graveyard-768x605.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/171117-graveyard-1260x993.jpg 1260w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-378107\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A chart shows the black hole mergers detected by LIGO in blue (including an unconfirmed detection with dotted-line circles). Electromagnetic black hole detections are shown in purple, electromagnetic neutron star detections are shown in yellow, and the LIGO-Virgo detection of a neutron star merger is shown in orange. Click on the image for a larger version. (LIGO-Virgo \/ Northwestern Graphic \/ Frank Elavsky)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Virgo was getting ready for the Aug. 1 start of operations when the June event happened. Although the European observatory wasn\u2019t able to provide meaningful data about the event, Virgo\u2019s scientists were able to contributed to the post-event analysis.<\/p>\n<p>Hundreds of scientists from the LIGO and Virgo collaborations are listed as authors for a research paper on the June 8 event, submitted this week for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.<\/p>\n<p>LIGO now has five confirmed black hole mergers on its detection list, plus the neutron star merger. For the next year or so, the LIGO and Virgo detectors will be offline for upgrades, but scientists are continuing to check the data from their recently concluded observing run for events that may already be in the can.<\/p>\n<p>Once observations resume with the upgraded detectors in late 2018, \u201cdetection of black hole binaries will be a routine occurrence,\u201d the researchers write. They say \u201cstudying this population will eventually answer many questions about these systems\u2019 origins and evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An artist\u2019s conception shows two black holes in the process of merging. (LIGO \/ Caltech \/ MIT Illustration) It took months to figure it out, but the scientists in charge of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, or LIGO, have confirmed their observations of the most lightweight black hole merger yet. The latest detection provides further [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4568,1975,1978],"class_list":["post-18730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-advanced-ligo","tag-black-holes","tag-gravitational-waves"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18730"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18730\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}