Astronomers Detected The Most Powerful Black Hole Collision So Far
There are four brand new detections of gravitational waves that have been revealed at the Gravitational Waves Physics and Astronomy Workshop at the University of Maryland in the US.
Now, there are 11 detections. The first one was made back in 2015.
Ten of them are from binary black hole mergers, and one of them is from the merger of two neutron stars (dense remains of stellar explosions.)
One black hole merger was incredibly distant and the most potent explosion that has ever been observed in astronomy so far.
On the other hand, in late October an article in New Scientist, headlined Exclusive: Grave doubts over LIGO’s discovery of gravitational waves raised the idea that it “might have been an illusion.”
While listening to gravitational waves, we usually use memorized sounds called templates. There’s a unique sound for the merger of each possible combination of black hole masses and spins.
Each and every one of the templates is worked out using Einstein’s theory of gravitational wave emission.
Searching for rare sounds
In the hunt for gravitational waves, experts are searching for such rare sounds. In order to avoid missing signals or finding false positives, there’s a need for extremely high rigor to analyze data.
“For each signal, we determine the mass of the two colliding black holes, the mass of the new black hole that they create, and rather roughly, the distance and the direction. Each signal has been seen in two or three detectors almost at the same time,” according to Science Alert.
They continue and explain that “Eight of the 20 initial black holes have masses between 30 and 40 Suns, six are in the 20s, three are in the teens, and only two are as low as 7 to 8 Suns.”
The publication also says that these numbers will help scientists find out where all the black holes are made, how they’re made and how many are out there.
I have been blogging and posting articles for over eight years, but my passion for writing dates back in 2000. I am especially enthusiastic about technology, science, and health-related issues. When I’m not researching and writing the latest news, I’m either watching sci-fi and horror movies or checking out places worth visiting and building deep memories for later in life. I believe in empathy and continually improving myself.
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