Perpustakaan Digital ITB

The newly upgraded detectors of the LIGO and Virgo gravitational-wave observatories have sent astronomers on a wild ride. Last week, the detectors heard gravitational waves from a merger of two neutron stars for only the second time — creating a frenzy of activity. Just a day later, the observatories made the first possible sighting of a black hole devouring a neutron star. If confirmed, it would be the first evidence that the Universe harbours such binary systems. Observations of their dramatic collisions can produce a wealth of information that no other event could provide, including precise tests of the general theory of relativity and measuring the Universe’s rate of expansion.