Gravitational

Astronomers and astrophysicists at five different pulsar timing array collaborations today announced data that strongly suggests the presence of a gravitational wave background: a constant murmur of low-frequency ripples in spacetime that emanates from some of the universe’s most exotic objects.Are Big Consumer Facing Tech Companies Redeemable? The discovery is an affirmation of previous suggestions from pulsar timing data that a low-frequency signal from the universe’s most gravitationally forceful sources—very possibly…

After nearly two decades of listening, astronomers are finally starting to “hear” the rumbles of gravitational waves they believe emanate from the behemoths of our universe: supermassive black holes. The result comes from a National Science Foundation–sponsored initiative known as the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav). Since 2004 NANOGrav has monitored metronomelike flashes of light from a Milky Way–spanning network of dead stars known as pulsars. Forged from the hearts of exploding…

The NANOGrav team was essentially able to turn the Milky Way into a giant gravitational wave detector by measuring the signals from these pulsars to determine when a wave nudged them. The collision of enormous black holes—or some other extremely energetic process—generates gravitational waves that ever-so-slightly squeeze and stretch space-time, tweaking the intervals between pulsar blips. NANOGrav researchers measured those minuscule changes among 68 pulsars, then correlated them, finding a pattern that is likely the…

The Universe should be humming.Every supernova, every merger between neutron stars or black holes, even rapidly spinning lone neutron stars, could or should be a source of gravitational waves.Even the rapid inflation of space following the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago should have produced its own cascade of gravitational waves.Like a rock thrown in a pond, these massive events should send ripples reverberating through the very fabric of space-time – faint expansions and contractions of space that could be detectable…

Figure 1. Schematic of the inflaton field fragmented into oscillons, with superimposed gravitational waves. Credit: Kavli IPMU, Volodymyr TakhistovA recent study reveals a new mechanism for the production of <span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>gravitational waves</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>Gravitational waves are distortions or ripples in the fabric of space and time. They were first detected in 2015 by the…

A significant advancement in thin film technology has the potential to enhance the sensitivity of gravitational wave detectors, facilitating a deeper understanding of the universe. The new technique was developed at UWS’s Institute of Thin Films, Sensors and Imaging and involves producing thin films with reduced thermal noise, improving their detection capacity.Researchers have developed a thin film technology that enhances gravitational wave detector sensitivity. This breakthrough promises to deepen our understanding of…

A team of astrophysicists has determined through simulations that the debris shed by dying stars may be a source of gravitational waves—those ripples in spacetime predicted by Einstein over a century ago.First Full-Color Images From Webb Space TelescopeGravitational waves are predicted by the general theory of relativity; they are ripples in spacetime generated by massive accelerating objects. The waves are also produced by the interactions of such objects, like binaries of and mergers between neutron stars and black…

Until now, we’ve only detected gravitational waves originating in binary systems, from the merger of black holes or neutron stars. But researchers from Northwestern University have potentially discovered a new non-binary source of gravitational waves: the debris ‘cocoon’ that forms around a dying massive star.Gravitational waves are invisible but incredibly fast ripples in spacetime caused by some of the most violent, energetic processes in space. Traveling at the speed of light, gravitational waves squeeze and stretch…

The BlackGEM array, consisting of three new telescopes located at ESO’s La Silla Observatory, has begun operations. This photograph shows the three open domes of the BlackGEM telescopes under a stunning night sky a La Silla. Other telescopes at the observatory are visible in the background. Credit: S. Bloemen (Radboud University)/ESOThe BlackGEM array, a system of three new telescopes located at the European Southern Observatory’s (<span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt"…

It has been three years since the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) shut down, starting a long hiatus from searching the universe for gravitational waves. Now, though, the LIGO gravitational wave detector is finally back up and running again and ready to search for ripples in spacetime. Gravitational waves are the hallmark signs of colliding black holes, as well as the leftover effects from other cosmic cataclysms, Nature explains. LIGO, which was designed to detect these ripples of…