Gravitational Waves Detected, Albert Einstein’s Theory Confirmed

Analysis of the waves suggests they originated from a system of two black holes, each with the mass of about 30 Suns, that gravitationally drew closer to each other.

US Scientists announced on Thursday that they had detected, heard and measured gravitational waves, a scientific triumph that is being compared to Galileo first turning a telescope to the heavens 400 years ago.

Both of LIGO’s four-kilometer super-antennas, one in Washington State and the other in Louisiana, recorded the chirp in September.

Violent events – such as when two black holes collide – are believed to create ripples in the fabric of space and time known as gravitational waves. After long years of searching for experimental evidence, researchers at the LIGO Collaboration were finally able to confirm Einstein’s claim after they have detected subtle disturbances from these gravitational waves with the use of interferometers. Seems like that a century later, scientists have got their hands on something that will further their understanding of the origin of the universe and shed more light on the Big Bang.

Besides proving that Einstein had a solid idea, the findings promise to change how we study the universe.

But LIGO’s observations also pose a puzzle: Hawking said the black holes that collided were each more massive than what would be expected to result from the collapse of a star.

According to the National Geographic, the LIGO is a mirror-based experiment and the signal it received is characteristic of the expected sound of the death and merging of two black holes. This was the moment science has been waiting for: a sign that space-time exists as Einstein predicted. “We did it”, said California Institute of Technology physicist David Reitze, triggering applause at a packed news conference in Washington. Only an instrument like LIGO can accomplish this as it can measure distortions as small as a thousandth of a proton’s size.

The discovery of gravitational waves is like opening another of our senses, Marka told CNN’s Rachel Crane: hearing the universe as well as seeing it.

Just one thing: What on earth are gravitational waves?