Astronomy › Section R · Black holes and curved spacetime › Topic R.5
Gravitational-wave astronomy
When black holes or neutron stars spiral together, they shake spacetime itself. Since 2015, detectors able to sense a change far smaller than a proton have been hearing these ripples, opening a completely new way to observe the universe.
In this topic
- Ripples in spacetime
- The first clue: a shrinking orbit
- Detectors made of light
- Worked example: how small is the signal?
- The first detection
- Worked example: the energy of GW150914
- Neutron stars collide
- Hundreds of mergers
- Other wavebands for gravity
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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