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Scientists have spotted the most exotic gravitational waves ever recorded after a black hole Probably lunch on a neutron star.
The news: On August 14, the Laser Interferometer Observatory (LIGO) in the United States and the Observatory of the Virgin in Italy detected new gravitational waves waving in space-time. They were produced 900 million light-years away by a black hole devouring a neutron star or an object that we never thought possible.
1% uncertainty: The team has an automated system that instantly ranks gravitational wave events. This one was unusual. It turns out that an object of less than three solar masses had plunged into another object of more than five solar masses. We have never seen a larger neutron star than 2.2 solar masses, nor a black hole less than five solar masses, so that scientists are 99% certain this event was caused by the removal of a neutron star by a black hole. However, there is still a very slim chance that the neutron star is just a black hole – the smallest of all time – and that this event is only a new merger of two black holes.
And after: Shortly after its detection, the Australian SkyMapper telescope swept the sky in search of a visual sign of the fusion (like the inside of the neutron star ripped out by the black hole), but found nothing . Other telescopes, such as NASA's Swift instrument, could spot revealing evidence later.
Catch them all: Before this exotic signal, called S190814bv, we had only seen gravitational waves produced by black hole fusion or neutron star mergers. If the conclusions are valid, they will complete the holy trinity of gravitational wave events scientists have continued this decade and confirmed the existence of a new type of star system.
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