Tag

Gravitational Waves

All articles tagged with #gravitational waves

science15 hours ago•4 min saved

Neutron-Star Merger Brings Fresh Data to the Universe's Expansion Rate

An international team combined gravitational-wave data from a neutron-star collision with telescope and astrometric observations to measure the Hubble-Lemaitre Constant via the Cosmic Distance Ladder. Their result adds a late-Universe, gravitational-wave–based data point that loosely aligns with early-Universe (CMB) estimates, highlighting GW methods as a valuable but still less precise tool to help resolve the Hubble tension. More neutron-star mergers are needed to confirm the implications for cosmology.

via Universe Today|

#cosmic-distance-ladder #gravitational-waves #hubble-constant

science1 day ago•3 min saved

Some Black Holes May Be Born From Earlier Black Hole Mergers

A new analysis of 155 binary black-hole mergers detected by LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA finds about 14% could be second-generation black holes formed from prior mergers, suggesting hierarchical mergers occur in dense stellar environments and can create unusually massive BHs in the 40+ solar-mass range, challenging simple stellar-collapse narratives and raising questions about their true origins.

via Gizmodo|

#black-holes #gravitational-waves #hierarchical-mergers

astronomy4 days ago•11 min saved

Second-Generation Black Holes: Gravitational Waves Hint at Hierarchical Mergers

Analyses of GWTC-4.0 from multiple groups converge on a high-mass subpopulation of merging black holes consistent with hierarchical mergers, where at least one black hole is the remnant of a prior merger. Second-generation black holes should be roughly twice as massive as first-generation ones, with spins near 0.7 and random orientations; a transition around 40–45 solar masses marks the shift from low-spin to higher-spin populations. These results, obtained with diverse population models focusing on effective spins, bolster the case that dense environments produce recycled black holes and have implications for the mass gap and black-hole growth, with sharper insights expected as detectors improve.

via American Physical Society|

#astronomy #black-holes #gravitational-waves

science4 days ago•11 min saved

Prototype differential atom interferometer overcomes laser noise to probe dark matter and primordial gravitational waves

A tabletop prototype using two ultracold strontium atom clouds demonstrates a differential atom interferometer can cancel laser phase noise, revealing faint signals that could indicate dark matter or primordial gravitational waves. This experimentally confirms a key principle for future large-scale quantum sensors (AION) and paves the way for scaling to facilities at CERN or Fermilab to explore new physics.

via SciTechDaily|

#aion #atom-interferometry #dark-matter

science4 days ago•121 min saved

Direct-wave signal near a black hole horizon opens a new window on gravity

Researchers analyzed a very strong gravitational-wave event (GW250114) detected by LIGO on Jan. 14, 2025 and found evidence of a “direct wave” produced from near the horizon of the newly formed black hole. The signal, matching theoretical predictions, could allow astronomers to study the region just outside the event horizon using gravitational waves, potentially testing general relativity and informing ideas about quantum gravity and the black hole information paradox. However, the claim rests on a single observation, so further detections are needed to confirm this as a universal feature of black hole mergers.

via Live Science|

#black-holes #event-horizon #gravitational-waves

science5 days ago•53 min saved

Listening to the Horizon: Gravitational Waves Hint at Black Hole’s Edge

Physicists analyzing the GW250114 black hole merger found a ‘direct wave’ signal consistent with dynamics very close to the horizon, suggesting gravitational waves could offer a new way to study the region just outside a black hole and test general relativity—though more events are needed to confirm the finding.

via Yahoo|

#black-hole #event-horizon #gravitational-waves

science5 days ago•3 min saved

New Path for Star Death Found Near Galactic Cores

Astronomers linking a long gamma-ray burst to the merger of two compact objects near a galaxy’s central supermassive black hole reveal a new, fourth pathway for how stars can die in the universe’s densest regions, with future work aiming to detect accompanying gravitational waves using observatories like the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.

via BBC Sky at Night Magazine|

#astronomy #gamma-ray-burst #gravitational-waves

science11 days ago•15 min saved

Direct waves from the loudest GW reveal a black hole’s horizon spin and gravity

The January 14, 2025 gravitational-wave event GW250114 was the loudest yet and contained a previously unread signal, the direct wave, emitted from just outside the remnant black hole’s horizon. By decoding this signal, researchers measured the horizon’s rotation frequency and surface gravity, finding results that match Kerr black-hole predictions and enabling horizon-focused tests of general relativity. This marks a new era of direct horizon metrology in gravitational-wave astronomy as detector sensitivity improves.

via Space Daily|

#black-holes #event-horizon #gravitational-waves

science14 days ago•49 min saved

Loudest Black-Hole Merger Sheds Light on Event Horizons

Scientists analyzed GW250114—the loudest binary black-hole gravitational-wave signal observed to date, from a merger of two ~32-solar-mass black holes detected by LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA. They identified a direct-waves component near the horizon and used it to measure the remnant black hole’s rotation and surface gravity, offering a new way to study event horizons and test general relativity in the extreme gravity regime.

via Yahoo|

#black-hole #event-horizon #general-relativity

space14 days ago•97 min saved

Loudest Gravitational-Wave Burst Maps Black Hole Event Horizon

Researchers analyzing GW250114—the loudest binary black hole merger detected by LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA—identified a new component called direct waves and used it to probe the remnant black hole's horizon, measuring its rotation frequency and surface gravity; the work, published in Nature, could enable future tests of general relativity and deepen our understanding of what happens at a black hole's edge.

via Space|

#black-holes #event-horizon #gravitational-waves

science17 days ago•22 min saved

Direct-wave signal exposes horizon physics in GW250114

Researchers report observational evidence of a direct-wave component in GW250114 from a binary-black-hole merger. The direct wave oscillates near twice the remnant horizon’s rotation rate and damps according to surface gravity, imprinting frame-dragging from the Kerr black hole and matching theoretical predictions. This new channel enables direct probing of near-horizon physics in strong gravity.

via Nature|

#black-holes #frame-dragging #gravitational-waves

science17 days ago•8 min saved

Direct-wave signal edges closer to unveiling a black hole’s event horizon

A new, unusually clear gravitational-wave signal from a black-hole merger (GW250114) may carry the long-theorized direct-wave signature, offering a rare observational probe of the region near a black hole’s event horizon and enabling measurements of horizon rotation; if confirmed, this could open a new way to test general relativity and study near-horizon physics, though additional data and verification are needed.

via ScienceAlert|

#black-hole #direct-wave #event-horizon

space1 month ago•5 min saved

When a Star Eats a Primordial Black Hole: Explosive or Quiet Endings

New research models how a star capturing a primordial black hole (PBH) would evolve, finding that capture is most likely in three-body systems and leads to two possible fates: a rapid, disk-driven explosion (a Hawking-star) that destroys the star, or a slower, quasi-steady consumption that leaves a massive, high-spin remnant. The explosive path would produce multimodal electromagnetic signals (X-ray flash, UV/blue transient, possibly a low-luminosity GRB) while the quiet path could emit gravitational waves in the future. Observing these outcomes could constrain how much PBHs contribute to dark matter.

via Universe Today|

#accretion-disk #dark-matter #gravitational-waves

science-and-tech1 month ago•23 min saved

Gravitational Wave Astronomy Matures Into a Fully-Fledged Science

Gravitational wave astronomy has matured from a rare detection to a fully developed science: by mid-2026 there are 390 confirmed events across four detectors (LIGO, Virgo, KAGRA), boosted by upgrades and the addition of LIGO India (beginning around 2030) with space-based prospects like LISA on the horizon. The growing catalog enables population studies of stellar-mass black holes and neutron stars, improved sky localization, and stringent tests of general relativity, signaling a collaborative, high-impact future for gravitational wave science.

via Big Think|

#astronomy #black-holes #gravitational-waves

science1 month ago•76 min saved

Cosmic Gold Mine: New Catalog Unveils a Lost World of Black Hole Mergers

Astronomers released GWTC-5, a catalog with 161 new gravitational-wave signals from black-hole mergers detected by LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA between April 2024 and January 2025, bringing total detections to 390. The haul includes second-generation mergers and the most precisely localized event to date, enabling improved measurements of the Hubble constant and tests of general relativity and Hawking’s area theorem, underscoring a growing, detailed view of black hole populations and their growth in the universe.

via Space|

#black-holes #cosmology #gravitational-waves