Black Hole vs. Neutron Star: Discovering Gravitational Waves

Forget Game of Thrones, we may have now detected a real "battle" taking place in the space between a black hole and a neutron star.

Scientists this week have not only announced this breathtaking news, but also indicated that they had detected a distant collision between two neutron stars, as well as the potential merger of three black holes.

"The universe keeps us on our guard," said Patrick Brady, a physics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, in a statement.

And, just like the dark battle scenes of "GOT", none of this can be "seen". These collisions can rather be "heard" with the aid of sensitive equipment used to detect gravitational waves, the strange spatio-temporal ripples predicted for the first time by Albert Einstein a century ago.

Gravitational waves occur when neutron stars collide and are detected by both the LIGO Observatory of Mammoth in the United States and by the Virgin Observatory in Italy. This is the third observation campaign of the two groups, which began on April 1st.

Neutron stars are small but incredibly dense stellar objects, and are the collapsed remains of imploded stars. Black holes are also collapsed stars whose gravity is so strong that even light can not escape them. Scientists last month captured the very first picture of a black hole.

It is estimated that the collision between the neutron and the black hole took place in a distant galaxy, distant about 1.2 billion light years away, according to the report. National Foundation of Science.

This is "further proof that our universe is regularly ringing with colossal astronomical replicas of events," said Professor Sheila Rowan, director of the Glasgow University's Institute for Gravitational Research. "We were deaf to these sounds before the detectors gave us the opportunity to hear them and each event provides invaluable new data points to expand our understanding of our cosmos."

It is more obvious that "the universe is a violent place," according to the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council.

But this very first collision between a black hole and a neutron star is not yet a slam dunk: "Unfortunately, the signal is rather weak," said Brady. "It's like listening to someone whispering a word in a busy cafe, it can be difficult to get the word out or even to be sure the person whispers at all." It will take some time to come to a conclusion about it. "

In total, since entering history with the first ever direct gravitational wave detection in 2016, the network has located evidence of the fusion of two neutron stars; 13 fusions of black holes; and now this possible fusion between star and black hole.

The discoveries opened a new field of astronomy involving gravitational waves, CNN said.

Read or share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/05/03/black-hole-vs-neutron-star-gravitational-waves-spur-discovery/3661581002/