Sea of Gravitational

Astronomers have found the evidence of gravitational waves created by supermassive black holes in the core of galaxies. The gravitational waves can be detected with galaxy-sized detectors that track radio signals from pulsars. Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) first made the discovery of gravitational waves by colliding black holes. When two supermassive black holes collide, they create gravitational waves that distort space-time and continue to the universe. Gravitational waves are significant to study since they help find evidence of the origins of black holes and galaxies.

LIGO uses mirrors that reflect laser beams. LIGO can also detect changes of distortion in space-time that happens by gravitational waves with short wavelengths. Distortion in space-time near the earth can affect the signals of pulsars by making them arrive slightly earlier or later. Pulsars are compact stars that spin rapidly, emitting radio wave beams.

Researchers in the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) discovered strong evidence of gravitational waves recently. The NANOGrav team has been on a project using the Green Bank Telescope and discovered that pulsar timings could vary up to hundreds of nanoseconds. However, they have not found the correlation between a gravitational wave and pulsar timing variations. Astronomers believe that NANOGrav and LIGO are on the right track of studying gravitational waves. NANOGrav already has datasets of 2.5 years from the telescope and the observatory, which can be used to analyze the relationship between gravitational waves and pulsar timings through simulations.

Astronomers should continue their research and studies in gravitational waves in order to find the link between the data and mysteries of the universe, physics of evolution black holes in specific. For instance, as NANOGrav and IPTA (International Pulsar Timing Array) collaborate to combine observational data, more collaborations, fundraisings, and time investments are needed