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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons™
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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
P-13 Astronomy From Ripples In Spacetime, Tiffany Summerscales
P-13 Astronomy From Ripples In Spacetime, Tiffany Summerscales
Celebration of Research and Creative Scholarship
The LIGO and Virgo detectors have made a total of 11 confirmed measurements of gravitational waves, the faint ripples in the fabric of spacetime predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Ten of these gravitational wave events were caused by the inspiral, collision, and merging of a pair of black holes and the remaining event by a pair of neutron stars. These measurements have helped us learn about the objects that produced the gravitational waves. Regular candidate detections are now shared in real time with both astronomers and the public.
P-43 Doing Astronomy With Gravitational Waves, Tiffany Summerscales
P-43 Doing Astronomy With Gravitational Waves, Tiffany Summerscales
Celebration of Research and Creative Scholarship
With the first detection of gravitational waves on September 14, 2015, the new era of gravitational wave astronomy began. Gravitational wave detections, along with observations made by optical telescopes, have given us new information about the universe. This includes new estimates of the numbers of black holes in the universe and their properties, as well as confirming theories about the sources of some gamma ray bursts and how those sources produce heavy elements.