A Cosmic Symphony Revealed (IMAGE)
Caption
This artwork imagines the ultimate front-row seat for GW250114, a powerful collision between two black holes observed in gravitational waves by the US National Science Foundation LIGO. It depicts the view from one of the black holes as it spirals toward its cosmic partner. Ten years after LIGO's landmark detection of gravitational waves, the observatory's improved detectors allowed it to "hear" this celestial collision with unprecedented clarity. The gravitational-wave data enabled scientists to distinguish multiple subtle tones ringing out like a cosmic bell across the universe (imagined here as intertwining musical threads spiraling toward the center).
Though only LIGO was online during GW250114, it now routinely operates as part of a network with other gravitational-wave detectors, including Europe's Virgo and Japan's KAGRA.
Credit
Aurore Simonnet (SSU/EdEon)/LVK/URI
Usage Restrictions
No restrictions.
License
CC0