GRAVITATIONAL WAVES FROM THE MERGER OF MASSIVE BLACK HOLES

     At a distance of 1.3 billion light years away from us, great phenomena of merger of two massive black holes occurred. (One light year is the distance travelled by light in one year at a speed of 300,000 k m per second). They are part of binary system orbiting one another. One is   36 times of our solar mass and the other is 29 times of our solar mass. The two compacted black holes are about 150 k m across only; whereas the Sun’s diameter is 1,360,000 k m. Thereby one can imagine how dense the black holes are when they are many times massive than Sun in spite of their small size. While orbiting one another they came closer and suddenly in a split second they collided and merged into a single black hole of size equivalent to a mass of 62 Suns, with 3 solar mass worth of energy emitted as gravitational waves. The power released by the merger of black holes is equivalent to 50 times the power of all the stars in the visible universe. Since we are very far away in space there is no danger to us.

     This merger took place 1.3 billion light years back and the resultant gravitational waves were received on Earth on September 14, 2015 by L I G O (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave observatory) located in America. It is understood that the speed of the gravitational waves is the same as that of light. This observatory use a technique called Laser interferometry to detect these fluctuations in space time, which are as small as 10^-18m, or about 1/1000^th diameter of a proton. It can detect gravitational waves in a volume of one billion cubic light years, covering about one million Milky Way type galaxies.

     The existence of gravitational waves was first predicted by Albert Einstein through his famous theory of general relativity in the year 1916. According to him gravity bends space-time, and more massive the object is, the larger the effect. Space is like a rubber sheet. Things that have mass cause the rubber sheet to bend if it hits it. The more the mass, the more space gets bent and distorted by gravity. The Sun is massive and causes a big distortion of the space around it and due to this distortion the Earth goes around the Sun. There is no actual force pulling the Earth around. It is just a bending of the space. Gravitational waves are produced when masses accelerate, changing distortion of space. Everything with mass and/or energy can make gravitational waves.
          Albert Einstein’s theories are amazing. There were no well developed scientific instruments   to observe and develop any theory. How his mind worked on such things is an unsolved mystery. He also stated that light ray bends when it passes near a star. Long after it was proved to be correct, at the time of eclipse to the Sun. His formula E=mc^2 is a well known one world over. Moreover his theory on general relativity is most wonderful. It was proved practically only after 100 years, thanks to L I G O. But how could he develop all these theories are a mystery. When he wrote about general relativity only three persons in the world could understand it only to some extent. It took 100 years to solve his theories practically with great work. No ordinary scientist is capable of thinking like that. What is the specialty in him is a matter of consideration. Even his brain is also preserved for further study. In the ancient days when human thinking was not fully matured God used to be born as a human being to guide people in the right way. Now in the modern world there is no such need. If God has to take reincarnation, it should be as a scientist or as a physicist to guide humans in an advanced stage.  Probably this is the case with the famous Albert Einstein. World has to bow down before him. His discoveries paved way to unlock the hidden secrets of creation. His gravitational waves along with other very minor waves and particles may be linked to human thought rays that may make human beings as super human beings one day or other in near future.

     Light, ultraviolet, x-rays, radio waves are easily absorbed by dust and gas, leaving much of the universe hidden. The beauty of gravitational waves is that, while weak, they penetrate anything in their path. We will be able to receive cosmic signals for the first time that were previously entirely hidden; measure the frequency of major cosmic phenomena such as supernovas or merger of black holes – events that shape star systems and galaxies; hear the noises produced by gravitation of celestial bodies on the fabric of space time.

     Simply speaking we are heading towards the secrets of creation. Let us wait and see.