Gravitational Waves

http://www.encognitive.com
At the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics, a new research group is devoting their collective effort to understanding and detecting gravitational waves. Scientists are creating computer programs to model gravitational waves that will be detected by a new NASA satellite, called LISA.

General Relativity
In 1916, Albert Einstein published his famous Theory of General Relativity. His theory describes how space-time is affected by mass. We can think of space-time as a fabric that bends or curves when we place an object on it. Keep in mind that the 2-dimensional fabric analogy is just a model we use to represent what is actually 4-dimensional space-time (the normal three dimensions of space, plus a fourth dimension of time).

Imagine pulling a sheet taut and placing a bowling ball in the center of it; you will notice that the ball produces a curve in the sheet. The curve is weak far away from the ball, and steeper near the ball. In fact, the sheet is a bit stretched in that area near the ball, as well. This situation describes the curvature of space-time, and how it is affected by mass. Near a mass, space-time curves more drastically and stretches. Near a very large mass, the 'dent' in space-time is very deep, and the stretches are near the breaking point. This means that since space-time stretches near a mass, not only is space stretched out, but so is time. What do you think would happen if you put something extremely heavy on the sheet? Obviously, you might have a hard time holding the sheet up, but imagine that you had some help from Superman. The heavy object would break through the sheet! In space, this is what we call a black hole. The mass is so large that anything that comes near it (even light) falls through the hole, and is never able to return.

So What is a Gravitational Wave?

Most scientists describe gravitational waves as "ripples in space-time." Just like a boat sailing through the ocean produces waves in the water, moving masses like stars or black holes produce gravitational waves in the fabric of space-time. A more massive moving object will produce more powerful waves, and objects that move very quickly will produce more waves over a certain time period.

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/topics/gwaves/gwaves.html

Category:

Education

Tags:

• NASA
• General
• Relativity
• albert
• einstein
• gravitation
• waves
• stars
• planets

[ZappninLLP]

It's p-brane not pea brane, pea brain.

[DarkRezo]

good narration :>

I've read a few articles about our lovely universe, tbh I can't wait to see or hear of LISA sat. public results and perhaps a future animation program for workstations.

[SexabIe]

@xsmopsis No one gives a shit :D

[xsmopsis]

@SexabIe It's p-brane not pea brane :D

[LolzWhatIsThis]

Sheldon of TBBT.

[mujaku]

Where can I order the offical "gravitational wave detector" (GVD)? Since the Earth is flying about the sun at a pretty good clip, I hope to detect some waves with my GVD. :) (Actually, gravity is instantaneous just as Isaac Newton hypothesized.)

[SexabIe]

@SirFred11 Who gives a flying fuck?

[SirFred11]

@SexabIe It's not pea brain it's p-brane.

[ItsNotEvenSunny]

@SexabIe i'm the best, im the snoop dog of science. ill be droppin mad apples on your head, from hte shoulders of giants.

[SexabIe]

Steven Hawking will be stretchin' out the rhyme like gravity stretches time, when you try to put your little pea brain against his kind of mind.