Gravitational Waves

Gravitational Waves

A dense cluster of differently sized red, blue, and green spheres overlaps against a black background, evoking the biggest mysteries surrounding the origin of the universe.
We've long known we can't go back to infinite temperatures and densities. But the hottest part of the hot Big Bang remains a cosmic mystery.
As the Universe ages, it continues to gravitate, form stars, and expand. And yet, all this will someday end. Do we finally understand how?
LIGO Livingston
10 years ago, LIGO first began directly detecting gravitational waves. Now better than ever, it's revealing previously unreachable features.
A chart titled "Masses in the Stellar Graveyard" shows the black holes and neutron stars detected by LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA, plotted on a logarithmic scale in solar masses, highlighting how LIGO triples black hole haul with each new discovery.
10 years ago, LIGO saw its first gravitational wave. After 218 detections, our view of black holes has changed forever. Can this era endure?
Two supermassive black holes on an inevitable death spiral push the limits of Einstein's relativity. New observations reveal even more.
laniakea
On the largest scales, galaxies don't simply clump together, but form superclusters. Too bad they don't remain bound together.
gravitational wave effects on spacetime
With over 300 high-significance gravitational wave detections, we now have a huge unsolved puzzle. Will we invest in finding the solution?