Multimedia Gallery
June 15, 2016
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Ripples in spacetime pond
This artist's animation shows the merger of two black holes and the gravitational waves that ripple outward during the event. The black holes -- which represent those detected by LIGO on Dec. 26, 2015 -- were 14 and 8 times the mass of the sun, until they merged, forming a single black hole 21 times the sun's mass. One solar mass was converted to gravitational waves. In reality, the area near the black holes would appear highly warped, and the gravitational waves would be difficult to see directly.
Credit: LIGO/T. Pyle
Videos credited to the National Science Foundation, an agency of the U.S. Government, may be distributed freely. However, some materials within the videos may be copyrighted. If you would like to use portions of NSF-produced programs in another product, please contact the Video Team in the Office of Legislative and Public Affairs at the National Science Foundation.
Additional information about general usage can be found in Conditions.
Related story: Gravitational waves detected from second pair of colliding black holes