Quasars, the brightest objects in the universe, can serve as cosmic signposts that lead astronomers to pairs of supermassive black holes. While scientists are aware that supermassive black holes with masses of millions or even billions of times the sun lurk at the center of all large galaxies, detecting binary pairings of these cosmic titans… Read More »
In 2015, the iconic Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) made the first concrete detection of gravitational waves. The waves were the result of the collision of two black holes far away in the universe; Since then, numerous such signals have been detected from mergers of black holes, neutron stars, and even a few mixed… Read More »
Humanity’s first space-based gravitational wave detector has been approved. Consisting of three spacecraft that together form a single gravitational wave detector, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission is a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). It is planned to be released in the mid-2030s. The adoption of LISA was announced by… Read More »
Editor’s note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. To get it in your inbox, Sign up for free here. As humans, we like to “dare great things.” This is the motto of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, taken from a quote by Theodore Roosevelt. As a species… Read More »
Editor’s note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. To get it in your inbox, Sign up for free here. As humans, we like to “dare great things.” This is the motto of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, taken from a quote by Theodore Roosevelt. As a species… Read More »
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. A satellite designed to study Venus from top to bottom and a trio of gravitational wave-surfing spacecraft are two of the latest missions adopted by the European Space Agency. The agency has previously selected missions,… Read More »
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. A satellite designed to study Venus from top to bottom and a trio of gravitational wave-surfing spacecraft are two of the latest missions adopted by the European Space Agency. The agency has previously selected missions,… Read More »
Scientists are still searching for the source of the faint, persistent hum of gravitational waves. discovered echoing through Milky Way last year. New research suggests that these waves may indicate more than one source of temptation. The discovery team, a collaboration with the North American Observatory for Nanohertz Gravitational Waves, or NANOGrav, strongly suspects fluctuations… Read More »
The gold that makes up your ring, jewelry, and the uranium used as fuel in nuclear power plants is believed to come from the violent conditions created by the collision of two extremely dense dead stars called neutron stars. This collision between neutron stars also causes ripples in space-time called gravitational waves, bursts of high-energy… Read More »
Black circles distort the dense gas field of stars and galaxies. Scientists have discovered gravitational waves resulting from a black hole merger event; These waves show that the resulting black hole settled into a stable, spherical shape. These waves also reveal that the combined black hole may be much larger than previously thought. When first… Read More »