LIGO Catches Its Third Gravitational Wave!

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bystander
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LIGO Catches Its Third Gravitational Wave!

Post by bystander » Thu Jun 01, 2017 5:11 pm

LIGO Catches Its Third Gravitational Wave!
LIGO | California Institute of Technology | 2017 Jun 01

LIGO is thrilled to announce that it has nabbed its third gravitational wave in 18 months!
[img3="Schematic showing the relative 'sizes' (in Rs) of the black holes before and after merging. Credit: LIGO"]https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/system/med ... 1496264615[/img3][hr][/hr]
At 2:11:58 a.m. on January 4th 2017 the arms of LIGO’s Hanford, WA interferometer shivered. Three milliseconds later, Livingston’s interferometer followed suit. Even though parts of the U.S. were experiencing record cold temperatures, the trembling wasn’t caused by the frigid air of that winter morning. Rather, it was the shudder of space-time itself generated by the merger of two massive black holes in the distant universe: a gravitational wave had washed over the Earth, passing successively through the two detectors while most people in the U.S. were still asleep.

LIGO researchers quickly determined that the black holes were around 3 billion light years away from Earth when they collided, making this merger the farthest one yet observed (3 billion light years is about one-fifth of the way out to the ‘edge’ of the visible Universe). These waves had been traveling for around 3 billion years by the time they reached us.

Since learning of the detection, LIGO scientists have also determined that the two black holes involved in the merger were about 19 times and 32 times the mass of the Sun (with these masses, these objects add to a mysterious ‘new’ population of black holes with masses not known to astronomers prior to LIGO’s first detection). The resultant merged black hole is estimated to weigh about 49 times that of the Sun. ...

GW170104: Observation of a 50-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence at Redshift 0.2
- B. P. Abbott et al (LIGO Scientific Collaboration, Virgo Collaboration) GW170104 Press Release: LIGO Detects Gravitational Waves for Third Time
LIGO Scientific Collaboration | MIT | Caltech | NSF | 2017 Jun 01

LIGO detects merging black holes for third time
Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 2017 Jun 01

Gravitational Waves Detected a Third Time
University of Maryland | CMNS | 2017 Jun 01

LIGO Detects Gravitational Waves for Third Time
Northwestern University | 2017 Jun 01

Citizen Scientists Help in Search for Gravitational Waves
Northwestern University | CIERA | Gravity Spy | 2017 Jun 01

Researchers Help Detect Gravitational Waves for the Third Time
West Virginia University | 2017 Jun 01

Black Hole Computer Simulations Help ID Third Gravitational Wave
Rochester Institute of Technology | 2017 Jun 01

LIGO Confirms New Population of Black Holes
Albert Einstein University | Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics | 2017 Jun 01

New Gravity Waves Hit Earth After Record-Breaking Trip Through Space
Pennsylvania State University | via spaceref | 2017 Jun 01

Third Gravitational Wave Detection Offers New Insight into Black Holes
Australian National University | 2017 Jun 01

LIGO detects third black hole merger
National Science Foundation | 2017 Jun 01
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Re: LIGO Catches Its Third Gravitational Wave!

Post by neufer » Thu Jun 01, 2017 8:57 pm

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Art Neuendorffer

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RIT: Dying Stars Give Newborn Black Holes a Swift Kick

Post by bystander » Tue Jun 06, 2017 4:49 pm

Study Suggests Dying Stars Give Newborn Black Holes a Swift Kick
Rochester Institute of Technology | 2017 Jun 05

Gravitational wave astronomy sheds light on supernova explosions

New information gleaned from gravitational wave observations is helping scientists understand what happens when massive stars die and transform into black holes.

Rochester Institute of Technology researcher Richard O’Shaughnessy and collaborators reanalyzed the merging black holes detected by LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory) on Dec. 26, 2016.

“Using essentially freshman physics, we drew new insights about the most violent events in the universe,” said O’Shaughnessy ...

The current study reanalyzed the binary black holes, known as GW151226. It has been the only time LIGO has reported binary black holes must be spinning, O’Shaughnessy said. LIGO’s previous measurements suggested that the larger mass orbited the other at a slightly tilted angle.

O’Shaughnessy and his team link the black hole’s misalignment to when it formed from the death of a massive star. The force of the stellar explosion and collapse expelled the newborn black hole with a “natal kick,” causing this misalignment, the authors suggest. ...
Inferences About Supernova Physics from Gravitational-Wave Measurements:
GW151226 Spin Misalignment as an Indicator of Strong Black-Hole Natal Kicks

- Richard O'Shaughnessy, Davide Gerosa, Daniel Wysocki
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk.
— Garrison Keillor

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