Today physicists report detecting gravitational waves for the first time!
Although Einstein's Theory of Relativity predicted the existence of gravitational waves, they have thus far not been observed or measured.
The ability to detect gravitational waves opens a new astronomical window on the universe.
We can now see "whats happening out there" through the lense of gravitational waves.
It enables observation of previously
unobservable/ invisible/dark realms of the universe. A "gravitational wave" telescope now possible
http://news.yahoo.com/einsteins-gravitational-waves-detected-scientific-milestone-153535473.html
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/feb/11/gravitational-waves-discovery-hailed-as-breakthrough-of-the-century
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/02/12/science/ligo-gravitational-waves-black-holes-einstein.html?referer= http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t& source=web&cd=10&rct=j&q= gravitational%20waves&ved=0ahUKEwjq-_Lbx_ DKAhUHoZQKHQtmBSwQFghBMAk&url= http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com% 2F2016%2F02%2F12%2Fscience%2Fligo-gravitational-waves-black-holes-einstein.html&usg=AFQjCNGkTfN_ hiow0Wxaliv2RAVU9Ys-Wg
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Most of "what is" is not visible to the senses.
Our knowledge of the universe is limited by our senses (our ability to perceive).
It has taken 400 years since the invention of the telescope for us to directly detect other planetary systems; i.e.to see planets around other stars.
There is only a very tiny segment of reality that we can access/perceive through our unaided senses;i.e. that we can see,hear, and touch.
We mistakenly assume that what we can see with our senses is all that there is.
But in actuality what we are able to detect with our senses is to the whole of reality like a drop is to the ocean.
Our knowledge of the universe will continuosly expand through the development of sensing instruments of ever-increasing resolution. Such instruments allow us to transcend the limitations inherent in our biological senses. But even the expanded reality that we can apprehend through the use of instruments is only a very tiny segment of the total reality.
We do not know how much of total reality is unobservable to us.
We call this invisible portion of reality "dark matter/energy"!
Now that we can measure gravitational waves we have a new method of acquiring knowledge about the universe. Upto now all the information we have acquired has come from electromagnetic radiation--visible light,radio waves,Xrays,gamma rays.
ReplyDeleteAlthough gravitational waves travel at the speed of light they are not part of the electromagnetic spectrum of energy.Rather they are a distinct and unique form of energy produced by a vibration or perturbation of spacetime wch occurs when two very dense masses orbit each other very fast (e.g. black holes spinning around each other 200 times per second)
So now we can observe events in the universe wch were previously invisible to us.
A "spacetime wave" is generated when time alternately speeds up and slows down while concurrently space expands and contracts. Such a gravitational wave then propogates away from its source at the speed of light.
It is an oscillation of the spacetime fabric itself.
"... it looks like LIGO co-founder Kip Thorne is right when he says "LIGO has opened a new window on the universe." That window is going to get bigger because both the Virgo gravitational-wave detector in Italy and the KAGRA detector in Japan are currently being upgraded. And earlier this week, India announced that it will go ahead with plans to build its own gravitational-wave detector.I'm looking forward to seeing the first gravitational-wave map of the sky, and hoping that the physicists behind LIGO will be booking their flights to Stockholm."
ReplyDelete--Hamish JohnstonEditor, physicsworld.com
Instruments such as radio telescopes,x-ray telescopes,and now gravitational wave telescopes. ..have enabled us to "see in the dark"!
ReplyDelete
DeleteNASA has detected a burst of light that might be linked to one of the most monumental space discoveries ever made
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/nasa-detected-burst-light-might-190500486.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory&soc_trk=ma
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lisa-pathfinder-reports-record-breaking-gravitational-wave-results/?ref=yfp
ReplyDeleteLISA Pathfinder Reports Record-Breaking Gravitational Wave Results
The successful technology demonstration paves the way for detecting mergers of supermassive black holes with future space-based observatories
By Lee Billings on June 7, 2016
Scientists witness huge cosmic crash, find origins of gold
ReplyDeleteSETH BORENSTEIN Associated Press October 16, 2017
This illustration provided by the Carnegie Institution for Science depicts the collision of two neutron stars detected on Aug. 17, 2017. The explosion threw matter, light, radiation and gravitational waves into space. The discovery was reported on Monday, Oct. 16, 2017. (Robin Dienel/Carnegie Institution for Science via AP)WASHINGTON (AP) —
It was a faint signal, but it told of one of the most violent acts in the universe, and it would soon reveal secrets of the cosmos, including how gold was created.Astronomers around the world reacted to the signal quickly, focusing telescopes located on every continent and even in orbit to a distant spot in the sky.What they witnessed in mid-August and revealed Monday was the long-ago collision of two neutron stars — a phenomenon California Institute of Technology's David H. Reitze called "the most spectacular fireworks in the universe.""When these things collide, all hell breaks loose," he said.Measurements of the light and other energy emanating from the crash have helped scientists explain how planet-killing gamma ray bursts are born, how fast the universe is expanding, and where heavy elements like platinum and gold come from.
What to Read Next
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/astronomers-just-measured-whole-lot-140000227.html
******************** Groundbreaking gravitational wave discovery shows Einstein's brilliance yet again
Miriam Kramer October 16, 2017
Even 100 years after the fact, Albert Einstein is still getting his due. On Monday, more than a thousand astronomers and physicists around the world celebrated the announcement of a landmark discovery. For the first time, researchers saw the immediate aftermath of the merger of two neutron stars — leftover stellar remnants packed with more mass than our sun but with the diameter as small as the city of Boston. SEE ALSO: Researchers watched as gold was made millions of light-years from Earth Researchers detected both the ripples in space and time sent out by the colliding neutron stars as well as the light signature from the event. This marks the first time a cosmic collision has been seen in both light and gravity. It also represents another passing grade for Einstein's general theory of relativity, which he developed in 1915.