The collision of two galaxies that allowed us to capture a new type of gravitational waves

Scientists have captured new gravitational waves generated in the orbit of supermassive black holes located in the hearts of distant galaxies.

These waves are produced when these black holes begin to merge.

This may be the first direct evidence that there are giant black holes that distort space and time as they get closer.

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According to the theory, galaxies expand like this. Now astronomers can see if it really happens this way.

These distortions occur all the time, throughout the universe.

One of the groups that made the discovery is the European Pulsar Timing Array Consortium (EPTA), led by Professor Michael Kramer of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn.

Kramer told the BBC that the discovery has the potential to change astronomers’ ideas about the cosmos forever.

“It could tell us if Einstein’s theory of gravity is wrong; what dark matter and dark energy really are, the mysterious things that make up most of the universe and that can give us a new window into new physical theories.”

Further research could provide new insights into the role supermassive black holes play in the evolution of all galaxies.

Dr. Rebecca Bowler, from the University of Manchester, told the BBC that researchers believe there are giant black holes at the heart of all galaxies and they grow over billions of years. But so far everything has been theoretical.

“We know there are supermassive black holes, but we don’t know how they got there. One possibility is that smaller black holes are merging, but there is little empirical evidence for this.”

“However, with these new observations, we were able to see such a merger for the first time. And that will tell us directly how the most massive black holes form,” he said.

The observations were made by studying signals from dead stars called pulsars, which rotate and emit bursts of radio signals at extremely precise intervals.

But the researchers, including astronomers from the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire, and from the University of Birmingham, both in the UK, have found that these signals are reaching Earth a little faster or slower than they should.

And they say the time warp is consistent with gravitational waves created by merging supermassive black holes all over the universe.

Dr. Stanislav Babak, from the Laboratory of Astroparticles and Cosmology at the French National Center for Scientific Research, explained that gravitational waves contain information about “some of the best-kept secrets in the universe.”

The newly found gravitational waves differ from the waves detected so far. The above ripples are caused by much smaller star-sized black holes colliding with each other.

The new type described in this latest study is believed to come from black holes that are hundreds of millions of times more massive and orbit each other as they get closer and closer.

Their gravitational turmoil is so powerful that it distorts time and space, a process that could take billions of years until supermassive black holes finally merge.

The gravitational waves previously discovered by scientists can be thought of as brief rumbles, while the new ones resemble a background hum that surrounds us all the time.

Your next step is to take more measurements and combine observations. As progress is made, another goal is to be able to discover individual pairs of supermassive black holes, assuming they are the source of those waves.

It is possible that gravitational waves could also be caused by other equally exciting phenomena, such as the very first black holes created or the exotic structures called cosmic strings, which can be considered the seeds from which the universe grew.

What are Gravitational Waves?

Gravity is a constant force in our daily lives. If you drop a cup, it will tip over and fall to the floor every time.

But in space, gravity does not stay the same. It can change if a sudden and catastrophic event occurs, such as the collision of black holes.

The event is so catastrophic that it distorts space and time, sending ripples through the universe, much like a stone falling into a pool of water.

In the case of gravitational waves, everything in the universe – the stars, the planets and even us – is that water.

Everything is compressed and stretched and then squashed and squashed as the waves wash over us. And just like in a pond, the ripples quickly become smaller and disappear.

Gravitational waves generated by the merger of star-sized black holes were first directly detected in 2015. Highly sensitive laser systems measured the waves produced in the last moments before the collision.

For the type of waves emanating from spiraling supermassive black holes, the pulsar approach captures the ripples produced in the billions of years before final union.

This resembles a continuous stream of stones thrown into the pond. And since the fusions take place throughout space, the signal is perceived as a cacophony.

EPTA has combined the results with a consortium in India (InPTA) and published the results of their study in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Three other independent and competitive research groups from North America (NANOGrav), Australia (PPTA) and China (CPTA) have published similar assessments, causing tremendous excitement in the physics and astronomy community.

Scientists must first confirm their observations. None of the research groups has data that exceeds the gold standard of less than one chance in a million of errors, which is usually required for conclusive evidence, but combined the results from the different teams are certainly compelling.