Gravitational Waves

NASA is Building Telescopes for the LISA Mission

Some of the most cataclysmic and mysterious events in the cosmos only reveal themselves by their gravitational waves. We've detected…

2 weeks ago

How Gravitational Waves Could Let Us See the First Moments After the Big Bang

Cosmology has had several ground-breaking discoveries over the last 100+ years since Einstein developed his theory of relativity. Two of…

3 weeks ago

Future Gravitational Wave Observatories Could See the Earliest Black Hole Mergers in the Universe

In February 2016, scientists at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) confirmed they made the first-ever detection of gravitational waves…

2 months ago

Two Supermassive Black Holes on a Collision Course With Each Other

Galaxy collisions are foundational events in the Universe. They happen when two systems mingle stars in a cosmic dance. They…

2 months ago

The Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole Might Have Formed 9 Billion Years Ago

Large galaxies like ours are hosts to Supermassive Black Holes (SMBHs.) They can be so massive that they resist comprehension,…

2 months ago

If Gravitons Exist, this Experiment Might Find Them

There are four fundamental forces in the Universe; strong, weak, electromagnetic and gravity. Quantum theory explains three of the four…

2 months ago

For Their Next Trick, Gravitational Wave Observatories Could Detect Collapsing Stars

The merging of black holes and neutron stars are among the most energetic events in the universe. Not only do…

2 months ago

Scientists Develop a Novel Method for Detecting Supermassive Black Holes: Use Smaller Black Holes!

In 1974, astronomers Bruce Balick and Robert L. Brown discovered a powerful radio source at the center of the Milky…

3 months ago

A Solution to the “Final Parsec Problem?”

Supermassive Black Holes are Nature's confounding behemoths. It's difficult for Earth-bound minds to comprehend their magnitude and power. Astrophysicists have…

3 months ago

Simulating the Last Moments Before Neutron Stars Merge

When stars reach the end of their life cycle, they shed their outer layers in a supernova. What is left…

4 months ago