[ExI] The biggest black hole merger ever detected so far rocked the Universe

[spike at rainier66.com]

-----Original Message-----
From: extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> On Behalf Of
BillK via extropy-chat
Sent: Monday, 14 July, 2025 9:23 AM
Subject: [ExI] The biggest black hole merger ever detected so far rocked the
Universe

The biggest black hole merger ever detected so far rocked the Universe The
gravitational waves they emitted were fiercely powerful, but where did the
black holes come from?
Philip Plait     July 14, 2025

<https://badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/the-biggest-black-hole-merger-ever-detec
ted-so-far-rocked-the-universe-dc6b8bba789d58bd>
Quote:
In the last few orbits before they merge, taking just a fraction of a
second, they create a blast of waves that can be incredibly powerful.
These waves march across the Universe, and flow over Earth.
When that happens, spacetime itself contracts and expands.
The effect is small; over an object the size of Earth the stretching is only
a few times the size of a proton!
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But LIGO can detect it.  Isn't science marvellous?
BillK
_______________________________________________



Isn't it cool?  The astronomy sites are buzzing about this.  I recall when
they received the signal and told us what it looked like, but they would
need some time to analyze and verify it.  I had a hard time believing two
black holes of that size could find each other.  It strains my imagination
trying to figure out how those monsters would form, never mind how they
would get close enough together to dissipate all that angular momentum and
merge.

Well somehow they did.  There's still plenty we just don't understand about
the origin of the universe.  Rather there is plenty that I don't understand.

spike