Sounds of Black Holes Merging

[MolaKule]

From one of my Alma Matters:

Quote:
The gravitational wave astrophysics group at Embry-Riddle’s Prescott Campus is the only LIGO group in the four corners states (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah). Established in 2005, it has been continuously supported by the NSF since 2006. The group consists of Zanolin; Andri Gretarsson, founder of the Embry-Riddle LIGO group and professor of physics, who helped design and characterize the mirrors that form the heart of the LIGO detectors and worked on commissioning the initial LIGO interferometers; Brennan Hughey, assistant professor of physics, who was involved in vetting and analyzing the gravitational wave signal; Ph.D. student Marek Szczepanczyk; plus undergraduate students Kiranjyot Gill, Marina Koepke (’16, PC), James Pratt and Sophia Schwalbe.


Hear the sounds:

http://lift.erau.edu/LIGO/

 

[KrisZ]

Cool but very anticlimactic.

 

[Astro14]

Actual science basis...and a bit of silliness...but still, science at its core.

As opposed to the fantasy and speculation in recent astronomy threads.

That makes it exciting.

 

[expat]

I REALLY was hoping for something MUCH more dramatic!

I mean....I had the sound cranked up, I was holding on to my desk....I what do I get

A Frigging Tap dripping!

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: Astro14
Actual science basis...and a bit of silliness...but still, science at its core.

As opposed to the fantasy and speculation in recent astronomy threads.

That makes it exciting.

Agreed.

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: Astro14
Actual science basis...and a bit of silliness...but still, science at its core.

As opposed to the fantasy and speculation in recent astronomy threads.

That makes it exciting.

Agreed.

+2
And if electronic crickets existed, you could hear them in this thread. Only nonsense gets the responses.

 

[Wolf359]

It will be pretty interesting when they find more. That collision released the power equivalent to 3 solar masses. That's all the power in 3 of our suns released in a small moment, and our sun can burn for billions of years.

 

[Schmoe]

School me if I'm wrong, but how can sound travel through a vacuum? Don't the waves need a medium of some sort......in space, no one can hear you scream.

 

[Al]

Originally Posted By: Schmoe
School me if I'm wrong, but how can sound travel through a vacuum? Don't the waves need a medium of some sort......in space, no one can hear you scream.

They are not sound waves Gravitational Waves (if they exist)( need no medium to travel..just light light.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: Schmoe
School me if I'm wrong, but how can sound travel through a vacuum? Don't the waves need a medium of some sort......in space, no one can hear you scream.

You're absolutely right. The "sound" in the video isn't a recording of actual sound; it's a simulation of gravitational waves that some astrophysicists measured.

The gravitational waves are the main story here. It's a huge finding. The audio simulation is just a neat trick.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: Al
They are not sound waves Gravitational Waves (if they exist)( need no medium to travel..just light light.

Slight correction: space is the medium.

 

[MolaKule]

Originally Posted By: Schmoe
School me if I'm wrong, but how can sound travel through a vacuum? Don't the waves need a medium of some sort......in space, no one can hear you scream.



Let's go back to basics, as others have explained what you are hearing.

Let's say you're at a wedding party that has a DJ.

The DJ speaks into a "transducer" called a microphone. The microphone generates electrical signals of varying amplitude and frequency in response to the sound waves from the DJ's voice.

An amplifier amplifies or increases the power of those signals.

Those signals are sent to an actuator called a "speaker."

The speaker(s) in turn generates sound waves from those amplified signals which reaches your ears as speech.

You are not really hearing the DJ's voice but what you are hearing is a reasonable reproduction of the DJ's voice.

The output signal of the LIGO detectors was sent to some software which converted the detectors' output to an equivalent audio signal. The "swish and drip" you hear is a result of the amplitude, duration, and frequency of the LIGO detectors' output.

 

[Al]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: Al
They are not sound waves Gravitational Waves (if they exist)( need no medium to travel..just light light.

Slight correction: space is the medium.

lol..true