Gravitational Waves: The latest discoveries and star crash news

Gravitational waves are ripples in space-time created by the interaction of massive objects in space, such as black holes and neutron stars. Their existence was first predicted by Albert Einstein in his 1916 paper describing his theory of general relativity. In 2015, scientists made the first detection of gravitational waves, observing ripples from the collision of two black holes. The discovery won astrophysicists Kip Thorne, Barry Baris and Rainer Weiss the 2017 Nobel Prize for Physics. Subsequent observations have also detected gravitational waves from colliding neutron stars. Learn more about gravitational waves here.
Related Topics: Black Holes, Dark Matter, The Theory of Relativity in Space
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Latest about gravitational waves

Gravitational wave detector confirms theories of Einstein and Hawking: 'This is the clearest view yet of the nature of black holes'
By Robert Lea published
Celebrating 10 years since the first detection of gravitational waves coming from colliding black holes, LIGO has confirmed the predictions of the greatest minds in physics.

Radical new Big Bang theory says gravitational waves created galaxies, stars and planets
By Robert Lea published
A new Big Bang model does away with speculative elements, putting gravitational waves at the forefront of the creation of galaxies, stars, and planets.

Ripples from the Big Bang could transform our understanding of the universe — and we may be close to detecting them
By Paul Sutter published
It will take the most sensitive instruments ever imagined to reveal ripples from the Big Bang, but they could change our understanding of the entire universe.

Gravitational waves reveal most massive black hole merger ever detected — one 'forbidden' by current models
By Robert Lea published
Gravitational wave detectors have "heard" the ripples in space caused by the most massive black hole merger yet. One "forbidden" by current theoretical models.

What can ripples in spacetime reveal about black holes? Quite a bit, it turns out
By Sharmila Kuthunur published
Cosmic echoes from some of the universe's most violent collisions are far more nuanced than scientists had realized, according to new research.

Gravitational waves could turn colliding neutron stars into 'cosmic tuning forks'
By Robert Lea published
Scientists have discovered that gravitational waves could turn neutron stars into cosmic tuning forks with characteristic reverberations that reveal their interiors.

Gravitational waves offer a 'cosmic DNA test' for black holes
By Robert Lea published
The size and spin of black holes can reveal how and where they were born, and gravitational waves offer a way to decode this information like a cosmic DNA test.

Black hole paradox that stumped Stephen Hawking may have a solution, new paper claims
By Paul Sutter published
As black holes slowly vanish through Hawking radiation, their information may be preserved in subtle space-time ripples, a new theory suggests.

Hidden black holes could be revealed by gravitational wave map of the cosmos
By Robert Lea published
A map of the universe in gravitational waves could reveal "hidden" black holes, supermassive black hole collisions, and the large-scale structure of the cosmos.

Dark matter might make space-time ring like a bell around black holes — and we might be able to 'hear' it
By Paul Sutter published
To explain why dark matter particles haven't come up in any direct detection experiments, physicists have wondered if it may be a kind of particle known as an axion.
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