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Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...

Started by The Legendary Shark, 21 July, 2011, 11:05:57 PM

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The Legendary Shark

Just read that article. Do gravitational waves "travel" at the speed of light, then, or have I misunderstood the sequence of events?

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TordelBack

Yep, as near exactly the same speed, within a variation of only about 1 in 1015, or thereabouts.  Which is something we didn't know, and scuppers a range of current models of dark energy and dark matter which predicted gravity to be faster or slower than light.  Einstein wins again. 

However, the superficially cooler thing for me is the revelation that every atom in my wedding ring was created in a neutron star collision.  And we didn't know that either.

This is one of the best articles I've found so far: https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/news/ligo20171016

The Legendary Shark

That's an excellent article, Tordels, thanks. I wonder what these "glitches" are, remembering that the first detections of the cosmic microwave background radiation were initially thought to be glitches as well. I also wonder what effects, if any, a gravitational wave might have locally, within a few light years of the causation event - enough to perturb orbits in a solar system or even disturb material objects, or might a local observer see a shimmer in the sky, the gravitational lensing equivalent of heat haze?

More reading to be done!

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The Legendary Shark

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TordelBack

Extraordinarily exciting, innit? Real hair-stander-upper.

The Legendary Shark

Yes, I think so too. There are already ideas being put forward to intercept the object with a probe but my gut tells me that, now this first one has been discovered, more will be detected which might be easier to get to.

The galaxy gets closer every day!
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The Legendary Shark

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IAMTHESYSTEM

"You may live to see man-made horrors beyond your comprehension."

http://artriad.deviantart.com/
― Nikola Tesla

Bolt-01


TordelBack


The Legendary Shark

Is this now interstellar probe the most impressive vehicle ever built by mankind, or what?

It was part of my childhood and impressed me deeply with the images it returned and it continues to impress me even now - a spiritual brother to 2000AD. It may now be all alone in the night but I'll never forget it's out there.

I look forward to the day when another, next generation probe hurtles past it - maybe snapping a photo or two of this significant mote as it zips by.

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von Boom

Isn't the Golden record on Voyager 1 up for a Grammy this year?

TordelBack


The Legendary Shark

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Proudhuff

DDT did a job on me