Another day, another detection of
gravitational waves. Although it may seem like they're becoming mundane, it's worth remembering that observing these ripples in the very fabric of spacetime that are created by massive cataclysms in the very distant past, is one of the most important scientific finds in a century. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) has just detected gravitational waves for the fourth time, but it wasn't alone this time: the signals were also measured by the Virgo detector in Italy, marking a new milestone in the observation of the Universe.
This latest event was observed on August 14 at 10:30:43 am UTC, and it was caused by a collision between two huge black holes about 1.8 billion light-years away. The two black holes involved in the mammoth merger had masses about 31 times and 25 times larger than the Sun, and the end result was a spinning black hole with about 53 times the mass of the Sun. That means about three solar masses were converted into the energy seen in the ripples.
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