US EditionClearest Gravitational-Wave Signal Lets LIGO Confirm Hawking's Area Law and Kerr Black Holes
The GW250114 signal from merging black holes 1.3 billion light years away confirms Hawking's area theorem with a 67% increase in event horizon surface area, researchers say.
- LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, has significantly advanced gravitational wave astronomy over the past decade, allowing the detection of black hole collisions from 1.3 billion light years away.
- Since 2015, LIGO has detected over 200 gravitational wave events, greatly enhancing our understanding of the universe and the fundamental forces at work.
- A 2015 event confirmed Einstein's theory of general relativity and was a significant moment in gravitational wave astronomy, as discussed by scientists involved in the research.
- The observatory includes twin facilities located in Hanford, Washington, and Livingston, Louisiana, which measure the ripples in space-time caused by cosmic events like black hole collisions.
67 Articles
67 Articles
Scientists prove a key Hawking black hole theory
Ten years after scientists observed gravitational waves for the first time, confirming Albert Einstein’s then century-old prediction, new data confirmed another renowned physicist’s seminal hypothesis. Stephen Hawking’s “area theorem” posited that the event horizon of a black hole, from which not even light can escape, can only grow, and never shrink.The perfect way to test that is to use gravitational waves to measure the surface of two collidi…
Ten years later, LIGO is a black-hole hunting machine
On September 14, 2015, a signal arrived on Earth, carrying information about a pair of remote black holes that had spiraled together and merged. The signal had traveled about 1.3 billion years to reach us at the speed of light—but it was not made of light. It was a different kind of signal: a quivering of space-time called gravitational waves first predicted by Albert Einstein 100 years prior.
After 10 years of gravitational wave astronomy, what will be the next new eye on the cosmos?
For the past decade, gravitational wave astronomy has opened our eyes to amazing cosmic phenomena thanks to LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory. Bob McDonald celebrates LIGO and how far astronomy has come as he looks to the future of mysteries that remain in the universe.
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