(https://www.nasa.gov)(https://science.nasa.

gov)(/)(/)

What is a gravitational wave? More

(#right
tray)

Agravitationalwaveisaninvisible(yetincrediblyfast)rippleinspace.

Weveknownaboutgravitationalwavesforalongtime.Morethan100yearsago,agreatscientist
namedAlbertEinsteincameupwithmanyideasaboutgravity(/whatisgravity)andspace.

AlbertEinstein,official1921NobelPrizeinPhysicsphotograph.

Einsteinpredictedthatsomethingspecialhappenswhentwobodiessuchasplanetsorstars
orbiteachother.Hebelievedthatthiskindofmovementcouldcauseripplesinspace.These
rippleswouldspreadoutliketheripplesinapondwhenastoneistossedin.Scientistscallthese
ripplesofspacegravitationalwaves.
Gravitationalwavesareinvisible.However,theyareincrediblyfast.Theytravelatthespeedof
light(186,000milespersecond).Gravitationalwavessqueezeandstretchanythingintheirpath
astheypassby.

Illustrationofhowmassbendsspace(Imagecredit:NASA)

What causes gravitational waves?

Themostpowerfulgravitationalwavesarecreatedwhenobjectsmoveatveryhighspeeds.Some
examplesofeventsthatcouldcauseagravitationalwaveare:
whenastarexplodesasymmetrically(calledasupernova(/drmarcspace/en/#/review/dr
marcspace/supernovas.html))
whentwobigstarsorbiteachother
whentwoblackholes(/blackholes)orbiteachotherandmerge
 Ripples in Spacetime Pond

Anartistsanimationofgravitationalwavescreatedbythemergeroftwoblackholes.(Videocredit:LIGO/T.Pyle)

Butthesetypesofobjectsthatcreategravitationalwavesarefaraway.Andsometimes,these
eventsonlycausesmall,weakgravitationalwaves.Thewavesarethenveryweakbythetime
theyreachEarth.Thismakesgravitationalwaveshardtodetect.

How do we know that gravitational waves exist?

In2015,scientistsdetectedgravitationalwavesfortheveryfirsttime.Theyusedaverysensitive
instrumentcalledLIGO(LaserInterferometerGravitationalWaveObservatory).Thesefirst
gravitationalwaveshappenedwhentwoblackholescrashedintooneanother.Thecollision
happened1.3billionyearsago.But,theripplesdidntmakeittoEarthuntil2015!

LIGOismadeupoftwoobservatories:oneinLouisianaandoneinWashington(above).Eachobservatoryhastwolongarmsthat
areeachmorethan2miles(4kilometers)long.(Imagecredit:Caltech/MIT/LIGOLab)
Einstein was right!
Thefirstdetectionofgravitationalwaveswasaveryimportanteventinscience.Beforethis,just
abouteverythingweknewabouttheuniversecamefromstudyingwavesoflight.Nowwehavea
newwaytolearnabouttheuniversebystudyingwavesofgravity.
Gravitationalwaveswillhelpuslearnmanynewthingsaboutouruniverse.Wemayalsolearn
moreaboutgravityitself!

Howaregravitationalwavesdetected?
WhenagravitationalwavepassesbyEarth,itsqueezes
andstretchesspace.LIGOcandetectthissqueezingand
stretching.EachLIGOobservatoryhastwoarmsthatare
eachmorethan2miles(4kilometers)long.Apassing
gravitationalwavecausesthelengthofthearmstochange
slightly.Theobservatoryuseslasers,mirrors,and
extremelysensitiveinstrumentstodetectthesetiny
changes.

Watchtheanimationbelowtoseehowthisworks!

articlelastupdatedMarch29,2017

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