Scientists detect intriguing gravitational waves involving black holes

Did you know that the science of gravitational waves only saw the light of day in 2015? However, for these six years, researchers have already detected 90 gravitational waves, including 35 fluctuations between the period of November 2019 and March 2020. The gravitational waves detected during this period are particularly interesting because 33 of them involved each times two black holes.

You should know that gravitational waves are due to two very massive black holes that come closer to each other in space. These ripples travel through space at the speed of light and reach our planet after a while compressing and stretching in alternating series everything they touch.

There are a variety of black holes and neutron stars

Currently, there are three gravitational wave detectors in the world, including two LIGO installations in the United States and VIRGO in Italy. Among the last fluctuations detected, the researchers detected a rather strange black hole of 24 solar masses. Indeed, the researchers hypothesize that either this black hole was accompanied by a black hole of 2.8 solar masses or perhaps they are in the presence of a very heavy neutron star.

In any case, Christopher Berry, member of the LIGO scientific collaboration, said that scientists are just beginning to ” appreciate the wonderful diversity of black holes and neutron stars. Our latest results prove that they are available in many sizes and combinations. We solved some long-standing mysteries, but we also uncovered new puzzles “.