Rumours (pretty solid ones) of new LIGO gravitational wave event linked to Short Gamma Ray Burst

[rwg]

https://www.nature.com/news/rumours-swell-over-new-kind-of-gravitational-wave-sighting-1.22482

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rumors-swell-over-new-kind-of-gravitational-wave-sighting/

Looks like there has been another gravitational wave detection by LIGO/VIRGO, this time likely of a neutron star/neutron star collision in NGC4993. It seems likely that this has been linked to a SGRB (short gamma ray burst) and various other telescopes such as Hubble and Fermi have been observing this target.

interesting times for Astrophysicists!

cheers,

Robin

 

[Stu]

Exciting stuff!

I think the detection of Gravitational Waves has been one of the most exciting scientific events in my lifetime. Somehow so much more tangible than the Higgs Boson because of those beautiful waveforms which are produced.

[Alien 13]

Empty space is full of stuff so do these events produce sound waves too?

Alan

[saac]

For human hearing audible sound occurs at a sound pressure level of approximately one billionth of atmospheric pressure (1.01 x10 ^5 Pa).  Any gaseous body in free space would therefore require a sufficient density to allow such a pressure level to propagate.  Gaseous planets would almost certainly be able to allow sound to propagate (audible to human hearing) but I wonder if free gaseous regions nebulae etc would be sufficiently dense to support the threshold pressure level.

Jim

[martin_h]

 

[Dave In Vermont]

For 'whom' to be able to 'hear' it?

I'd take a guess at it: As sound is vibrational-energy, you'd need a VERY large 'ear' to hear it in a gaseous-cloud. Or a very large, by today's technology, amplifier.

It's all relative!

Dave

and that would be my 2¢.....

[andrew s]

While we may not be able to hear them "sound waves" certainly do propagate in gas clouds causing for example shock waves which have a significant impact on star formation and many other astrophysical processes.

Regards Andrew

[saac]

A good visual example of a shock wave initiating a change is shown in the video below. Distilled water placed in a very clean bottle (reduces nucleation sites) remains liquid at well below 0 degrees Celsius but freezes instantly when shocked. A similar effect can be seen in hand warmers which use sodium acetate. When heated the sodium acetate reverts to its liquid state but when shocked, usually with a clickable metal disc, the shock initiates the reaction.  I may be wrong but I think I remember Brian Cox referring to the physics of dust clouds coalescing under the influence of gravity in one of his programmes.  He had a tank of "dust particles" suspended in micro gravity (he was on NASA's  vomit comet) and, if I remember correctly, he was showing how the electrostatic force would have inhibited the particles coalescing to form solid chunks. He went on to argue that it would have taken a shock wave to initiate the clumping of the particles.

Jim

[youtube]

 

[laowhoo]

On 9/23/2017 at 04:55, Dave In Vermont said:

For 'whom' to be able to 'hear' it?

I'd take a guess at it: As sound is vibrational-energy, you'd need a VERY large 'ear' to hear it in a gaseous-cloud. Or a very large, by today's technology, amplifier.

It's all relative!

Dave

and that would be my 2¢.....

"There once was a man who said God

Must think it exceedingly odd

To find that the tree

Continues to be

When there's noone about in the quad."

 

"Dear Sir, Your astonishment's odd,

I am always about in the quad,

And that's why the tree

Must continue to be

Since observed by yours, faithfully, God."

 

Sorry. Couldn't resist. A chicken is just an egg's way of making other eggs, but that old subject/object vestigial distinction is a tuff nut to overcome. I like Korzybski and Nagarjuna as a balm to my habits. Once I said there were sound waves in space, to a fellow observer at a one-week star party in Chaco Canyon, and I think he wanted to hang me. Great guy, and he made the BEST beer.

 

 

[Tiki]

On ‎25‎/‎08‎/‎2017 at 19:08, rwg said:

 

Looks like there has been another gravitational wave detection by LIGO/VIRGO, this time likely of a neutron star/neutron star collision in NGC4993. It seems likely that this has been linked to a SGRB (short gamma ray burst) and various other telescopes such as Hubble and Fermi have been observing this target.

interesting times for Astrophysicists!

cheers,

Robin

 

Good call.  The Wikipedia page has a lot of content on this very event. There is thought to have been something like 10 earth masses of gold created in the merger!

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GW170817

[Demonperformer]

54 minutes ago, Tiki said:

There is thought to have been something like 10 earth masses of gold created in the merger

So I guess my recent investment in gold-mining shares was not such a good idea after all.

I'll get my coat ...

[michael8554]

10 hours ago, Demonperformer said:

So I guess my recent investment in gold-mining shares was not such a good idea after all.

I'll get my coat ...

Should have moved to BitCoins.......

Michael