Gravitational waves (GW) reveal 1st-of-its-kind merger between neutron star and mystery object

Posted 13 Apr 2024

2 min read

Merger is officially known as GW230529, detected by the LIGO-Virgo-Kagra collaboration in 2023. The GW came from a merger of two objects:
- Neutron Star (formed when a massive star runs out of fuel and collapses)
- Mystery object whose mass lies in the ‘mass gap’.
  - Mass gap is the range of mass between the heaviest known neutron star and the lightest known black hole.

GWs are 'ripples' in space-time caused by some of the most violent and energetic processes in the Universe that propagate in all directions away from the source. Predicted in Einstein's General Theory of Relativity (1916).
- Its key Features includes:
  - Travel at the speed of light.
  - Produced by: Cataclysmic events such as colliding black holes, stars exploding at the end of their lifetimes, colliding neutron stars, etc.
  - GWs’ first detection: In 2015 and detected at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO).
GWs’ significance: It carries information about their origins; clues to the nature of gravity itself; information about the universe that you could never see with electromagnetic waves.

Consists of two interferometers, each with two 4 km long arms arranged in the shape of an “L”. These instruments act as 'antennae' to detect GWs.
Comprises stable high-power lasers, precisely figured mirrors, ultraquiet vibration isolation systems, and sophisticated hierarchical feedback systems.
LIGO-India: It will be built by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), in Maharashtra.

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