The team found these three events in about two years, indicating that when LIGO is implemented at full sensitivity, the observatory may be able to find these sorts of events frequently, scientists said in May 2017. This was first predicted by Albert Einstein at the turn of the last century, when he showed that time and space are linked time speeds up or slows down when space is distorted.Īs of mid-2017, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) Scientific Collaboration has announced three black-hole interactions and mergers detected through gravitational waves, in just two years.
No one is quite sure what lies within a black hole, or what would happen to a person or object who fell into it – but research is ongoing.Īn example is gravitational waves, or ripples in space-time that come from interactions between black holes. Smaller black holes can form from the gravitational collapse of a gigantic star, which forms a singularity from which nothing can escape - not even light, hence the name of the object. Matter swirling into the supermassive black hole at the centre of M87. Infographic: Cosmic Microwave Background Explained Dark matter and energy The CMB is the oldest radiation that our instruments can detect. In fact, the universe as a whole is inundated with what is known as the cosmic microwave background (CMB), which is essentially the leftover radiation from the explosion mostly commonly known as the Big Bang. Cosmic rays also fly through our neighborhood, stemming from supernovas outside of the solar system. In our own solar system, the solar wind - charged particles that stream from the sun - emanate throughout the solar system and occasionally cause auroras near Earth's poles.
In addition to the bits of debris that speckle the "emptier" regions of space, research has shown that these areas are also home to different forms of radiation. Because the spacecraft was designed to work in a zone with no atmosphere, it didn't need to have smooth edges or an aerodynamic shape. In fact, the vacuum environment in space and on the moon, is one reason why the lunar lander of the Apollo program was designed to have an almost spider-like appearance, as it was described by the Apollo 9 crew. This means that when humans send a probe to a distant planet or asteroid, the craft will not encounter "drag" in the same way that an airplane does as it sails through space. The majority of space is relatively empty, with just stray bits of dust and gas floating around. This means that space could be a whole lot bigger than we even think. But the universe continues to expand, making "measuring space," even more challenging.Īdditionally, astronomers are not totally sure if our universe is the only one that exists. This means we can "see" into space at a distance of almost 13.8 billion light-years. From the light that is visible in our telescopes, we have charted galaxies reaching almost as far back as the Big Bang, which is thought to have started our universe about 13.8 billion years ago.