Posted on 06/23/2020 7:04:52 PM PDT by BenLurkin
On Aug. 14, 2019, a gravitational wave -- a massive ripple through the fabric of space-time -- washed over the Earth.
The signal was one of the strongest ever seen by the gravitational wave scientists at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory and Italy's Virgo observatory. After an alert was sent out moments after detection, teams of astronomers across the world turned their telescopes to the point in space that the wave emanated from.
But their searches came up empty. No light, no X-rays, no infrared, no gamma rays.
On Tuesday, researchers from the LIGO and Virgo collaborations detail their full analysis of the gravitational wave detection, dubbed GW190814...It's the first detailed study of the epic cosmic collision, and it only deepens the mystery.
The observations show GW190814 pair collided around in a deep corner of space, 800 million light-years away. One half of the pair is definitely a black hole, about 23 times more massive than our sun. But its dancing partner is mysterious -- the other object is only around 2.6 times more massive than our sun, which puts it in a weird position. It could be a neutron star, that possibility is still on the table, but it might also be a black hole.
Scientists have never detected a black hole that's so light. Neutron stars are not expected to be that heavy -- they collapse into black holes when they get too big. So the mysterious object seems to be some sort of Goldilocks star that doesn't fit our current understanding.
Intriguingly, if it is an ultra-heavy neutron star, Smith says "perhaps even new physics would be required to explain it." If it's a light black hole, then our understanding of how and where the light-hungry cosmic beasts form will be rewritten.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnet.com ...
It’s always bunnies of some kind.
The wife and I thought we had really rocked each other’s world...but it turns out it was the massive ripple...dang.
Black hole? That’s racism. Tear down those telescopes.
Maybe it was a black hole colliding with a giant chunk of iron?
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