Researchers have recently announced that gravitational waves could be found by looking for a change in the brightness of stars.
Gravitational waves are ripples in space-time that were first suggested by Albert Einstein as part of his theory of general relativity. The waves that an object creates are larger in the case of objects with greater masses.
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| This image shows two black holes orbiting each other, generating gravitational waves. |
Though they have not been able to directly observe gravitational waves, scientists are still trying to detect them by using lasers both in space and on the ground. It has been difficult for scientists to detect these waves because they have a very little effect on matter.
Scientists have theorized that stars that vibrate at the same frequency as gravitational waves can absorb much of the energy from the ripples. So, if a star absorbs a lot of energy from gravitational waves, it can appear brighter than it typically look.
However, it will be difficult to tell if a star brightens up by energy from gravitational waves or by some other factor. Researchers have come up with a solution. They will look at large groups of stars. When a group of stars come near a system of black holes, researchers believe that the larger stars will brighten first. Then as the black holes come closer together, the frequency of these gravitational waves will increase, and then the smaller stars will be able to absorb the energy and they will brighten, too.
I found this article interesting because I have always been fascinated in space. Last year in science, we discussed Einstein's Theories of Relativity. I remember talking about how Einstein said that space and time were one thing. Its interesting that after nearly 100 years after these theories were proposed, people are still discovering new methods to show the existence of the things Einstein suggested.
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Nice article! I did not know much on this topic, but I definitely found that it was quite interesting. I found out that when stars absorb more energy from the gravitational waves they will appear brighter. When a group of stars approaches a black hole, the larger stars will brighten first, and then the smaller stars. There was a lot of research on this topic, and I hope more can be learned about space in general!
ReplyDeleteThis is so cool! Because I never really had an interest within the gravitational force, I never delved into the topic. But now knowing that such things are impacted by gravitational force, and how it functions in waves, has opened my mind and makes me more open-minded to topics. I will probably look up more on this subject now. This is a great article!
ReplyDeleteNice job! Einstein's theory of relatively is not something freshman usually understand, but you managed to help us understand it. In the experiment you discussed where scientists would observe the reactions of stars when they neared a group of black holes, how long would it take for scientists to actually find a rare event such as this? And doesn't gravity affect matter greatly, as it keeps us on the ground?
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