Physicists from the LIGO were reported to detect gravitational waves for the third time already in history. The waves were identified to be the farthest detected by LIGO at the distance of 3 billion light-years away and were found when two black holes collided to form a larger black hole.
According to Phys Org, the gravitational waves were long been predicted by Albert Einstein in his theory of General Relativity. The proof of the waves caused by warping of time in the universe was then discovered as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detected its presence last September 2015.
Aside from that, the gravitational waves were then detected once again by LIGO three months later. However, the most recent gravitational waves called as GW170104 was seen by researchers working at LIGO was said to occur last Jan. 4, 2017. The detected waves were said to be found on the merger of two black holes colliding.
"This is the first time that we have evidence that the black holes may not be aligned, giving us just a tiny hint that binary black holes may form in dense stellar clusters," one of the study author from the Penn State and Cardiff University, Bangalore Sathyaprakash added. The third gravitational wave detected by LIGO from the two black hole collision was identified to produce 49 solar masses. Meanwhile, the first and second produced a new black hole of 62 solar masses and 21 solar masses, respectively.
Moreover, the two black holes seen to cause the gravitational waves were described to be more than 31 and 19 times the mass of the sun, respectively. The event was then deemed to be the breakthrough wherein physicists could utilize the waves to observe ancient events. The detailed report about LIGO's findings were published the journal Physical Review Letters.
With that said, Vox reported that aside from proving Einstein’s theory of general relativity, there are more things that detected gravitational waves by LIGO could accomplish in the future. Improving and further delving in Einstein’s theory was said to be the first as it is deemed incomplete by some scientists and Einstein himself.
Other accomplishments of gravitational waves by LIGO in the future also include understanding how the universe was formed and black hole formation. Finding the source of dark matter and other celestial bodies along with other sources of gravity that scientists don’t expect was mentioned as well.
Nonetheless, the third gravitational wave detected by LIGO is believed to help scientists understand black holes better. The event was also said to possibly enable them to discover one black hole merger a day and a violent collision of two neutron stars in the future if the observatory will be upgraded.
