# Gravitational background waves detected! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 29, 2023, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gravitational-background-waves-detected/986301 "2023-06-29T17:43:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gravitational-background-waves-detected/986301/1 "2023-06-29T17:43:18Z")
> **[Scientists have finally 'heard' the chorus of gravitational waves that ripple...](https://apnews.com/article/gravitational-waves-black-holes-universe-cc0d633ec51a5dc3acb0492baf7f818a)** > > Scientists have observed for the first time the faint ripples caused by the motion of black holes that are gently stretching and squeezing everything in the universe. > NEW YORK (AP) — Scientists have observed for the first time the faint ripples caused by the motion of black holes that are gently stretching and squeezing everything in the universe. > > They reported Wednesday that they were able to “hear” what are called low-frequency gravitational waves — changes in the fabric of the universe that are created by huge objects moving around and colliding in space. > > “It’s really the first time that we have evidence of just this large-scale motion of everything in the universe,” said Maura McLaughlin, co-director of NANOGrav, the research collaboration that published the results in [The Astrophysical Journal Letters](http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acdac6). It’s very cool. If you want an expert level description of how it all works, this podcast is fantastic. Note that this was posted five days ago, and at the end, they are practically winking about the upcoming announcement. > **[\#3 Chiara Mingarelli - NANOGrav, Background Gravitational Waves, Black Holes...](https://coolworldslab.podbean.com/e/3-chiara-mingarelli-nanograv-background-gravitational-waves-black-holes/)** > > In this week's episode, David is joined by Chiara Mingarelli. Prof Mingarelli is currently moving from the University of Connecticut to Yale University and is theorist working on the so-called background gravitational wave signal. Predicted for... ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gravitational-background-waves-detected/986301/2 "2023-06-29T17:58:22Z")
Very cool indeed. Thanks for posting this. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gravitational-background-waves-detected/986301/3 "2023-06-29T18:02:14Z")
There is, to me, something so awe inspiring about this type of research and the resulting data. For want of a better analogy, it is sort of like being a cartoon character starting to realize that his/her world is actually a celluloid strip and that it’s possible to start analyzing that very material itself. My mind boggles. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gravitational-background-waves-detected/986301/4 "2023-06-29T18:45:04Z")
My first thought was “Wait, what? No way they’d be able to detect that with LIGO”. My second thought was “Oh, right, this is probably from pulsar timing arrays”. Which really makes this a lot bigger deal, because it now means that we have two very different ways of detecting gravitational waves (I was about to say “completely different”, except they’re actually fairly similar, just on very different scales). ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gravitational-background-waves-detected/986301/5 "2023-06-29T18:49:14Z")
Has anybody an idea about what ballpark of differences in pulsar timing we’re talking about? Smaller than in LIGO? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gravitational-background-waves-detected/986301/6 "2023-06-29T18:51:11Z")
The changes in distance are, on an absolute scale, much larger than those in LIGO, but they’re also over a much longer baseline. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gravitational-background-waves-detected/986301/7 "2023-06-29T18:57:38Z")
Another question for the experts: does this discovery mean that we will have one more powerful means and tool in the future to explore the Universe? What can we expect to get from analyzing these background waves? I’m thinking of all the things we learned from cosmic background radiation. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gravitational-background-waves-detected/986301/8 "2023-06-29T19:07:44Z")
Chiara Mingarelli does talk about that on the podcast, but I can’t recall if she actually quantifies the scale difference.