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5 Reasons You Should Care About The Discovery Of Gravitational Waves by Thomsyne(m): 11:54pm On Feb 26, 2016 |
The world of physics was abuzz last week with the historic announcement of the first-ever detection of gravitational waves. But why is it such a big deal? By Sabrina Stierwalt, PhD. on February 24, 2016 Last week marked the historic announcement of the first detection of gravitational waves. A big press conference was held, and physicists around the world celebrated. The discovery was even compared to Galileo looking through a telescope for the first time. So why all the fanfare? Why are gravitational waves such a huge deal? Last week marked the historic announcement of the first detection of gravitational waves. A big press conference was held, and physicists around the world celebrated. The discovery was even compared to Galileo looking through a telescope for the first time. So why all the fanfare? Why are gravitational waves such a huge deal? 1. GRAVITATIONAL WAVES ARE AN ENTIRELY NEW WAY OF OBSERVING THE UNIVERSE Astronomers observe the universe across the electromagnetic spectrum, from X-ray and ultraviolet through optical and down to radio frequencies. Emission in each of these frequency ranges provides different information and thus a different perspective on our astronomical points of interest. For example, we know that there are millions of stars clustered toward the center of our Galaxy which emit mostly at optical wavelengths, but there is also a lot of dust near the Galactic center as well. So to study those dust-enshrouded stars, astronomers must observe them at either infrared wavelengths (where the dust emits) or radio wavelengths (which can penetrate through the dust more effectively than shorter optical wavelengths). All of these wavelengths offer a unique perspective on the universe, but they are all the same kind of light, electromagnetic radiation, and so behave in similar, understood ways. Gravitational waves are an entirely new phenomenon different from anything on the electromagnetic spectrum. In 1915, Albert Einstein proposed a radically different way of looking at gravity with his theory of general relativity. Rather than thinking of gravity as a force pushing and pulling massive objects in different directions, he described gravity as being manifested in a curvature of spacetime. In other words, the space (and time) around a massive object is curved, which then dictates how passing objects can move through that space. This may sound crazy, but we can actually observe many of the effects predicted by Einstein’s theory. For example, general relativity informs us that time passes more slowly by an ever so small margin down here on Earth than it does for GPS satellites in orbit, an effect known as time dilation, a result of the curvature of spacetime. Without adjusting for this small time difference in our satellite communications, we would never get to where we are trying to go. A consequence of the general relativity framework is that when objects accelerate through this warping of spacetime, they produce ripples known as gravitational waves. These waves propagate through space, compressing it in one direction and stretching it in another. The frequencies predicted for these fluctuations are within the human hearing range. We can hear gravitational waves and already scientists and artists have teamed up to explore other artistic interpretations of their sound. So why did it take 100 years to detect them? These ripples are tiny, on order of a thousandth of the size of a proton nucleus, so we need a pretty violent event to occur to produce enough of them for us to detect. We also need, of course, a very sensitive detector. 2. The Instrument That Made the Gravitational Wave Detection Is the Most Precise Measuring System Ever Built To detect such tiny distortions in spacetime, physicists use a technique called laser interferometry. A focused beam of light is sent in different directions to bounce back and forth between two sets of mirrors before being sent to a detector. If a gravitational wave passes by the interferometer during all of this bouncing, the distance between the mirrors will change ever so slightly and this change will translate to a difference in the two signals as measured by the detector. Not only is the signal from gravitational waves incredibly weak, there is also a significant amount of competing noise attempting to drown it out. To increase the detectability of such a signal against the background noise, the path the laser travels must be a long one. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), the instrument that made the historic detection, is four kilometers long on each side. The detectors are further suspended in the air in hopes of isolating the slightly faster wiggles due to gravitational waves from terrestrial interference. To further fight back against false detections, LIGO has not one but two detectors: one in Hanford, Washington and the other in Livingston, Louisiana. Detecting the same signal at both, widely separated locations would mean that signal was likely not a local one. And that is exactly what happened on September 14, 2015—a signal with the precise characteristics predicted for gravitational waves was observed at both detectors only milliseconds apart. 3. We Now Know That Massive Black Holes Can Merge to Create Even Bigger Black Holes Famous theoretical physicist and author Kip Thorne described the event that produced the detected gravitational waves as a “violent storm in the fabric of space and time”. Around 1.3 billion years ago, when multicellular life was just beginning here on Earth, two black holes orbiting each other began to close in on one another. As these dense objects got closer, they began to accelerate to nearly half the speed of light in the presence of their shared strong gravitational field – the perfect mix for producing gravitational waves. From fitting the waveform of the gravitational wave detection and comparing it to simulations done with a supercomputer, astronomers can tell that the two black holes were originally 29 and 36 times the mass of our Sun. They merged to form a 62 solar mass black hole which means that an amount three times the mass of our Sun was emitted away as energy in the form of gravitational waves, all in the 20 milliseconds it took for the collision to happen! That’s a power output of 50 times greater than all of the power put out by all of the stars in the universe put together. Before this first detection, astronomers were not even sure that mergers between black holes existed, and now the details of this particular event are known to a high degree of certainty. 4. Hundreds of People Had to Take a Huge Risk to Make This Detection Possible Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves 100 years ago but at the time, there was significant doubt that such weak signals could ever be detected. In 1992, LIGO became the largest investment the National Science Foundation had ever made. The investment was a risky one–the existence of gravitational waves was only theoretical, and their signal, even if they were real, would be impossible to detect without the construction of an instrument larger than any other measurement device previously built. In fact, the initial operations of LIGO between 2002 and 2010 came up empty-handed. However, when the new and improved advanced LIGO came online with its increased sensitivity, it detected a signal that was so clear it could be seen by eye almost immediately. 5. With Our New Ears on the Universe, We Will Likely Make Discoveries We Haven’t Even Thought of Yet Arguably the most exciting part of this new discovery is that it’s only the beginning! The ease with which LIGO detected the signal suggests that there will be many more to come and that we won’t have to wait long for them either. The LIGO detectors are not even at their full planned sensitivity yet and so detections will get easier. The success of LIGO will also likely help other, similar projects get funded, and in fact it likely already has with the prime minister of India voicing support for LIGO India. Other efforts include KAGRA in Japan, VIRGO in Italy, and the already operational GEO600 in Germany. Using multiple detectors in concert will further help pinpoint the origin of the gravitational wave signals. The LISA project (i.e., the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna), which has experienced funding woes since NASA bowed out in 2011 and the project was picked up entirely by European agencies, would also send gravitational wave detectors into space. This would open up the possibility of detecting signals with much longer periods (on the order of minutes or hours rather than milliseconds) not currently possible with LIGO. Gravitational waves are predicted to arise from co-orbiting black holes like the system detected in September 2015, but also from binary systems with other compact objects like neutron stars. But gravitational waves are also fundamentally different from the electromagnetic radiation that we know so well. So really, who knows what we will find? cc lalasticlala seun Fynestboi |
Re: 5 Reasons You Should Care About The Discovery Of Gravitational Waves by tripplephi: 12:03am On Feb 27, 2016 |
Thomsyne: So how does this affect us. How does it affect the economy of naija or the price of Naira to dollar...... Is elon musk not in South Africa with his solar and electric cars that travel almost as fast as bullets? Yet how did that make buhari even notice him or how did it change our economy. Pls pls pls post solutions here that can make nigeria have hope. Not some Abstract progress we may never experience unless we leave nigeria |
Re: 5 Reasons You Should Care About The Discovery Of Gravitational Waves by oglalasioux(m): 12:33am On Feb 27, 2016 |
We in Africa are still listening to lazy people 'prophesying' about plane crashes and who will win or lose which election. Civilized people are fulfilling the prophecies of the real men of God. Men whom God really spoke to; Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Lavoisier, Chatelet, Faraday, Maxwell, Einstein etc. This is a fulfillment of prophecy by Albert Einstein. More of such prophecies, including the theory of a multiverse, are expected to be fulfilled in the nearest future. Only science can give God glory. Religion is a scam. 1 Like |
Re: 5 Reasons You Should Care About The Discovery Of Gravitational Waves by Thomsyne(m): 12:36am On Feb 27, 2016 |
oglalasioux: Tell them brother 2 Likes |
Re: 5 Reasons You Should Care About The Discovery Of Gravitational Waves by Judeoxide(m): 12:56am On Feb 27, 2016 |
Science is God and God is science.. Religion is just like a guide line to make us reason better and behave better than animals... |
Re: 5 Reasons You Should Care About The Discovery Of Gravitational Waves by Chazzyboy: 1:18am On Feb 27, 2016 |
oglalasioux:kini multiverse |
Re: 5 Reasons You Should Care About The Discovery Of Gravitational Waves by NiRfreak(m): 5:42am On Feb 27, 2016 |
When will the name of black enter OKEKE physics? |
Re: 5 Reasons You Should Care About The Discovery Of Gravitational Waves by oglalasioux(m): 6:58am On Feb 27, 2016 |
Chazzyboy: Google is your friend. |
Re: 5 Reasons You Should Care About The Discovery Of Gravitational Waves by OneManLegion(m): 8:19am On Feb 27, 2016 |
tripplephi: Was that why you had to quote the entire article? So, if a news doesn't affect your economy, you're not interested ba? Why do you people take so much joy in being dense na? |
Re: 5 Reasons You Should Care About The Discovery Of Gravitational Waves by haryomikun(m): 10:17am On Feb 27, 2016 |
tripplephi:Sharrap there! ![]() |
Re: 5 Reasons You Should Care About The Discovery Of Gravitational Waves by haryomikun(m): 10:23am On Feb 27, 2016 |
Thomsyne:Lol. Caught in the act |
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