Knowledge / Space Science & Astronomy

Gravitational Waves

Propagating disturbances in spacetime generated by accelerating asymmetric mass-energy distributions.

By Siddhant Krishna · Published 2026-10-06 · Updated 2026-10-06

Sources

Binary black-hole mergers.
Binary neutron-star mergers.
Mixed neutron-star–black-hole systems.
Potential cosmological or exotic sources under active investigation.

Detection

Laser interferometers measure extraordinarily small changes in the relative lengths of perpendicular optical paths. The signal encodes information about the masses, spins, distance, and dynamics of the source.

Gravitational-Wave Astronomy

Gravitational waves provide a new observational channel that is complementary to electromagnetic astronomy and can reveal systems that are faint, obscured, or intrinsically dark at many electromagnetic wavelengths.

References

NASA science resources covering astrophysics, Earth science, heliophysics, planetary science, and exploration.
https://science.nasa.gov/
OpenStax, university-level astronomy covering stars, galaxies, cosmology, planetary systems, and observational astronomy.
https://openstax.org/details/books/astronomy-2e

Black HolesExtreme gravitational objects described by general relativity and characterized by horizons and strong spacetime curvature.

Sources

Detection

Gravitational-Wave Astronomy

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