1 of 3 | Researchers have detected ultra-low frequency gravitational "shock waves" emanating from black holes that could be direct evidence of black holes distorting space-time. Pictured is the first image of a black hole, using Event Horizon Telescope observations of the center of the galaxy M87, released on April 10, 2019. Image by Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration/UPI |
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June 29 (UPI) -- Shock waves from giant black holes merging at the heart of distant galaxies recently detected by scientists may be direct evidence of black holes distorting space-time, according to research published Thursday.
Albert Einstein theorized that undulating space-time waves were constantly roiling the universe. Those waves were discovered by physicists who won the 2017 Nobel Prize in physics confirming Einstein's theory about the gravitational wave space-time distortion.
Now groups of scientists around the world have discovered the next step in detecting ultra-low frequency gravitational waves, which could provide fresh understanding of how these massive black holes impact galactic evolution.
Their findings were published in a series of papers in Astronomy and Astrophysics journal.
The waves were detected by studying signals from dead stars called pulsars. Researchers discovered these signals were getting to Earth slightly faster or slower than they should be, time distortions consistent with waves generated by the huge black holes.
"It could tell us if Einstein's theory of gravity is wrong; it may tell us about what dark matter and dark energy, the mysterious stuff that makes up the bulk of the universe, really is; and it could give us a new window into new theories of physics," Professor Michael Kramer, lead scientist at the European Pulsar Timing Array Consortium, told BBC News.
The international collaboration includes European, Indian and Japanese scientists who have published the results of 25 years of observations collected by six the Earth's most sensitive radio telescopes.
Stanislav Babak of the French Laboratory APC at CNRS said these low-frequency gravitational waves could lead to unlocking some of the deeper mysteries of the universe.
The waves are deformations of space-time traveling at the speed of light. Astronomers are seeing signatures of gravitational waves that are consistent with data and results across all international Pulsar Timing Array collaborations around the world.
"Pulsars are excellent natural clocks," David Champion, senior scientist at the MPIfR in Bonn, Germany, said in a news release. "We use the incredible regularity of their signals to search for minute changes in their ticking to detect the subtle stretching and squeezing of space-time by gravitational waves originating from the distant universe."
Rebecca Bowler of Manchester University told BBC News researchers believe there are supermassive black holes at the heart of all galaxies, growing over billions of years. These newly detected waves are from black holes merging.
Up to this point, gravitational waves were more like brief rumbles, but the newly discovered ones present like a constant humming in the background.
Researchers have published papers on these new gravitational waves in the journal Astronomy and Physics.
