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Credit & Copyright: Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes Project
Explanation:
Relax and watch two black holes merge.
Inspired by the first
direct detection of gravitational waves in 2015,
this
simulation plays in slow motion but
would take about one third of a second if run in real time.
Set on a cosmic stage, the black holes are posed in front of stars, gas,
and dust.
Their extreme gravity lenses the light
from behind them into
Einstein rings
as they spiral closer and finally merge into one.
The otherwise invisible gravitational waves generated
as the massive objects rapidly coalesce cause the visible image
to ripple and slosh both inside and outside the
Einstein rings
even after the
black
holes have merged.
Dubbed
GW150914, the gravitational waves
detected
by LIGO
are consistent with the merger of 36 and 31 solar mass
black holes at a distance of 1.3 billion light-years.
The final, single black hole has 63 times the mass of the Sun,
with the remaining 3 solar masses converted into energy radiated in
gravitational
waves.
Today's Event Horizon:
It's Black Hole Week
at NASA!
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: black hole - gravitational radiation
Publications with words: black hole - gravitational radiation
See also:
- APOD: 2024 November 24 Á Journey to the Center of the Galaxy
- APOD: 2024 October 1 Á Porphyrion: The Longest Known Black Hole Jets
- APOD: 2024 June 16 Á Animation: Black Hole Destroys Star
- The Galaxy, the Jet, and a Famous Black Hole
- APOD: 2024 May 8 Á Visualization: A Black Hole Accretion Disk
- APOD: 2024 May 7 Á Black Hole Accreting with Jet
- APOD: 2024 May 5 Á A Black Hole Disrupts a Passing Star