Astronomy / Space The fusion of two black holes of 36 and 29 times the mass of the sun

Patrick_68000 · Feb 9, 2016

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016...s-rumor-gravitational-waves-have-been-spotted

Gran Solo · Feb 10, 2016

Well, I'll be damned - I thought the first detected graviton waves would be more subtle.

Surfinjo · Feb 10, 2016

A magazine report of a rumour??

Sysmon · Feb 10, 2016

I look forward to see the paper when it is published! Any day now, it sounds like.

S

Tomtom · Feb 11, 2016

Yes, the LIGO folks are holding a press conference today (or tomorrow, depending on where you are when you read this. Thursday 11th anyway) and it is expected that the paper will be published at the same time.
If they can confirm gravity wave detection this could be HUGE.

metatheurgist · Feb 11, 2016

I think you buried the lead on this story Patrick!

X-Terminator · Feb 11, 2016

[video=youtube;1Tstyqz2g7o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tstyqz2g7o[/video]In theory this means Hyperspace and potentially Time Travel. We're doomed...

Gran Solo · Feb 11, 2016

I love PBS space time. In fact, that exact episode was where I first heard about LIGO.

Patrick_68000 · Feb 11, 2016

David Reitze, executive director of the LIGO observatories, has confirmed the discovery. A 1.3 billion light-years in us, somewhere in the southern hemisphere, in the general direction of the Magellanic Clouds, two black holes have merged. These black holes had masses of between 29 and 36 times the mass of our Sun, but in the spheres of only 150 kilometers of diameter. The two black holes, in their dance all around one of the other one, accelerated up to half of the speed of light before merging in a single black hole.

X-Terminator · Feb 11, 2016

I'm guessing you can only travel at half the speed of light into a black hole due to light is being sucked in at the same speed that it travels...dunno, I'm no expert!

Surfinjo · Feb 11, 2016

X-Terminator said:
I'm guessing you can only travel at half the speed of light into a black hole due to light is being sucked in at the same speed that it travels...dunno, I'm no expert!

I would have thought that, since all the other laws of nature break down in a Black Hole, the light speed rule would as well.

Perhaps the next big goal of physics is to work out what the laws of physics are inside a Black Hole.

I suspect it will begin by stating that there isn't actually an inside or somehting esoteric like that.

GJ51 · Feb 11, 2016

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCI_EINSTEINS_WAVES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT