Monday, August 12, 2013
Gravity Wave Breakfast
Gravity Waves
Gravity waves affect every observation. Starlight moves through spacetime. Gravity waves change spacetime itself. Small waves change observations only slightly but big waves make big changes.
The changes may not be noticable but gravity waves affect every observation.
For example, a black hole 100,000 light years away changes spacetime. As it moves through spacetime, it causes gravity waves. Bigger black holes, of course, cause bigger waves. Photons follow spacetime. So distant starlight beyond the black hole travels along altered spacetime.
Smoke that for breakfast.
LIGO confirmed gravity waves. LIGO stands for Laser Interferometer Gravity-waves Observatory. Einstein's Theory of Relativity predicts gravity waves.
What a wonderful world Euclid offered! If only the physical world was that simple! Euclid's geometry, with simplified x, y, and z axes, idealizes matters. Mathematicians hasten back to Euclid's playground.
But the universe differs from Euclid's ideal. The universe exists in many dimensions. Physicists know that gravity waves abound. Waves may move along the x axis. They may move along the y and z axes, too. But they may move along other axes!
It's a complex world.
Gravity waves may explain inconsistencies between observatories. For example, astronomers in America, China, Arabia, and Europe may attempt to observe something. When observations differ, gravity waves are one possible explanation.
For example, an Arabian astronomer observes something in the year 1700. In 1800, a Chinese astronomer attempts the same observation. Their observations differ. The difference may be due to instrumentation differences or a change in the event. But gravity waves may cause the differing observations.
Gravity waves alter spacetime. Over a century, waves might alter spacetime dramatically. In the example, the Chinese astronomer may have exactly the same instrumentation. The event may continue in exactly the same manner as it did in 1700. But if gravity waves alter spacetime dramatically, the Chinese observations differ dramatically.
Gravity waves imply job security for astronomers.
Copyright, 2013. Wade Hobbs, Jr.
Gravity waves affect every observation. Starlight moves through spacetime. Gravity waves change spacetime itself. Small waves change observations only slightly but big waves make big changes.
The changes may not be noticable but gravity waves affect every observation.
For example, a black hole 100,000 light years away changes spacetime. As it moves through spacetime, it causes gravity waves. Bigger black holes, of course, cause bigger waves. Photons follow spacetime. So distant starlight beyond the black hole travels along altered spacetime.
Smoke that for breakfast.
LIGO confirmed gravity waves. LIGO stands for Laser Interferometer Gravity-waves Observatory. Einstein's Theory of Relativity predicts gravity waves.
What a wonderful world Euclid offered! If only the physical world was that simple! Euclid's geometry, with simplified x, y, and z axes, idealizes matters. Mathematicians hasten back to Euclid's playground.
But the universe differs from Euclid's ideal. The universe exists in many dimensions. Physicists know that gravity waves abound. Waves may move along the x axis. They may move along the y and z axes, too. But they may move along other axes!
It's a complex world.
Gravity waves may explain inconsistencies between observatories. For example, astronomers in America, China, Arabia, and Europe may attempt to observe something. When observations differ, gravity waves are one possible explanation.
For example, an Arabian astronomer observes something in the year 1700. In 1800, a Chinese astronomer attempts the same observation. Their observations differ. The difference may be due to instrumentation differences or a change in the event. But gravity waves may cause the differing observations.
Gravity waves alter spacetime. Over a century, waves might alter spacetime dramatically. In the example, the Chinese astronomer may have exactly the same instrumentation. The event may continue in exactly the same manner as it did in 1700. But if gravity waves alter spacetime dramatically, the Chinese observations differ dramatically.
Gravity waves imply job security for astronomers.
Copyright, 2013. Wade Hobbs, Jr.
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