- Gravitational-Wave-0.mp3
- Gravitational-Wave-0.mp4
- Gravitational-Wave-I.mp3
- Gravitational-Wave-I.mp4
- Gravitational-Wave-II.mp3
- Gravitational-Wave-II.mp4
- Gravitational-Wave-Interlude.mp3
- Gravitational-Wave-space-bass-intro.mp3
[Intro]
A neutron star
(Merger)
How fast? How far?
(How long to get where we are)
[Bridge]
Fast as the speed of light
(Just as quick but not as bright)
Like a thief in the night
(Insight though not in sight)
[Verse]
Gravitational wave
(Spacetime rave)
Interferometer
(Ripple greeter)
[Instrumental, Saxophone Solo]
[Bridge]
Moving mountain and men
(To places we haven’t been)
[Chorus]
A neutron star
(Merger)
How fast? How far?
(How long to get where we are)
[Verse]
Gravitational wave
(Spacetime rave)
Interferometer
(Ripple greeter)
[Chorus]
A neutron star
(Merger)
How fast? How far?
(How long to get where we are)
[Bridge]
Fast as the speed of light
(Just as quick but not as bright)
Like a thief in the night
(Insight though not in sight)
Pulling at the seams
(So it seems)
[Chorus]
A neutron star
(Merger)
How fast? How far?
(How long to get where we are)
[Outro]
Pulling at the seams
(So it seems)
A SCIENCE NOTE
Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of spacetime caused by the acceleration of massive objects, particularly in events involving extreme gravitational interactions, such as the merging of black holes or neutron stars. They were predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916 as a consequence of his General Theory of Relativity and first directly detected by the LIGO observatory in 2015.
General Physics of Gravitational Waves
- Nature:
- Gravitational waves are disturbances in spacetime that propagate outward from their source.
- They stretch and compress space in perpendicular directions to their travel path, alternating between two polarization states (called “+” and “×” polarizations).
- Generation:
- Produced by non-spherical, asymmetric accelerations of mass, such as two orbiting massive bodies.
- Only the most violent astrophysical events (e.g., supernovae, binary black hole mergers) generate detectable gravitational waves.
- Energy Transport:
- Gravitational waves carry energy away from their source, leading to observable effects like the gradual decay of binary systems’ orbits.
- Detection:
- They are detected indirectly through their effect on spacetime, causing minuscule changes in distances between objects (on the scale of 1/10,000th of a proton’s diameter).
- Observatories like LIGO and Virgo use highly sensitive laser interferometers to detect these minuscule changes.
Do Gravitational Waves Travel at the Speed of Light?
Yes, gravitational waves travel at the speed of light in a vacuum (c), approximately 299,792 km/s299,792 \, \text{km/s}. This is consistent with Einstein’s General Relativity, which states that changes in the gravitational field propagate at the same speed as electromagnetic waves.
Evidence supporting this:
- In 2017, the LIGO and Virgo observatories detected gravitational waves from a neutron star merger (GW170817). Simultaneously, telescopes observed electromagnetic signals (gamma rays) from the same event. The near-simultaneous arrival of both signals confirmed that gravitational waves and light travel at the same speed, with any difference constrained to an extremely small margin.