Video compliments of SciNews
The Laser Interferometry Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) team has done it again. They have again detected gravitational waves predicted by Einstein.  This time the waves were created by the merger of 2 neutron stars creating an explosion larger than a supernova.  This explosion was so bright it was termed a "kilonova".  A nova is an explosion of a medium-sized star, like our Sun when it dies.  The nova explosion occurs when the star has finished burning through its nuclear fuel and then implodes.  The implosion is drastic and sudden, resulting in the explosion and creation of a white dwarf.

Aa kilonova occurs when a massive star collapses (at least 10 times our Sun) or 2 large stellar masses collide.   In this case, 2 neutron stars (that were formerly orbiting each other) came together and finally combined into a massive explosion, sending a gravitational shock wave through space. A kilonova is an explosion so large, it is 1,000 times brighter than a nova and creates x-rays and gamma rays that can be detected by the Chandra Space Telescope.

This explosion was in a galaxy about 130,000,000 light years away.  This is the type of explosion that creates some of the heavier elements in the periodic table such as gold and platinum.  The explosion occurred billions of years ago, but the light from this historic even is only reaching Earth now. Scientists were fortunate to actually see the light before, during and after the historic merging of the neutron stars and then, they detected the resulting gravitational wave from the event! 

Congratulations to the LIGO team for another astronomical milestone.

Maddalena Environmental Inc.
​Al Maddalena

Gravity waves were predicted by Einstein approximately 100 years ago but it wasn't until recently that the modern technology was capable of detecting them. Einstein calculated that large distortions in space caused by massive disruptions such as Black Hole collisions would send out "shock waves" of gravity at the speed of light throughout the universe. These shock waves would have to be huge to travel enormous distances through space and be detected on Earth.  

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) was the first to detect a gravitational wave in 2016. LIGO was the result of collaboration of over 1,000 scientists across the globe but the Noble Prize can only be granted to a maximum of 3 scientists. Therefore it was awarded to the physicists who conceived of the project (Kip Thorne, Rainer Weiss and Barry Barrish). 

The award of the Nobel Prize to the LIGO scientists accentuates how big this discovery is to astronomy!
Congratulations to the entire team of scientists around the world that made this major discovery possible.

Maddalena Environmental Inc.
​Al Maddalena