LIGO detected the gravitational waves from a 29 solar mass black hole inspiraling to collision with a 36 solar mass black hole at half the speed of light, 1.3 billion light years away.
The resulting merger formed a 62 solar mass black hole. 3 solar masses were converted to gravitational wave energy, as predicted by (numerical) general relativity. The 20 millisecond collision outshone all of the stars in the universe by a factor of 50.
https://www.ligo.caltech.edu
A big day for science.
The resulting merger formed a 62 solar mass black hole. 3 solar masses were converted to gravitational wave energy, as predicted by (numerical) general relativity. The 20 millisecond collision outshone all of the stars in the universe by a factor of 50.
https://www.ligo.caltech.edu
A big day for science.