Albert Einstein Theory of Gravitational Waves, Wrinkle in Space Time Proven by two Latinas

  • comments
  • print
  • email
Feb 12, 2016 11:00 AM EST

Albert Einstein's theory of gravitational waves in space time was proven after two Latinas discovered it by observing two colliding black holes.

Dr. Gabriela Gonzales and France A. Cordova discovered gravitational waves at the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) as they observed two colliding black holes. The black holes were 29 and 36 times larger than the mass of the sum and they gave off gravitational waves as they spiraled into one another. Before they merged, they released 50 times more energy than that of the whole universe.

The discovery confirmed the General Theory of Relativity by Albert Einstein and thus provides more insight into the birth of the universe including the Big Bang.

"This is the first of many discoveries," said Dr. Gonzalez in an interview with NBC Latino. "Now that we know for a fact that these black hole binary systems are out there, and now that we know we have detectors that work right now, these detectors are going to get better. Of course we will find more proof."

According to the National Geographic, the LIGO is a mirror-based experiment and the signal it received is characteristic of the expected sound of the death and merging of two black holes.

"We can hear gravitational waves, we can hear the universe," Gonzalez said. "We are not only going to be seeing the universe, we are going to be listening to it."

Gravitational waves were first predicted by Einstein in 1916. It occurs during collision of black holes, explosion of stars or merging of neutron star and any extreme events that cause space time to warp, expand and contract.

The scientists said that the discovery heralds a new era of "gravitational wave astronomy" where discoveries are waiting to be unfolded.

"Our observation of gravitational waves accomplishes an ambitious goal set out over 5 decades ago to directly detect this elusive phenomenon and better understand the universe, and, fittingly, fulfills Einstein's legacy on the 100th anniversary of his general theory of relativity," David H. Reitze, executive director of the LIGO Laboratory said via Mirror.

Professor Stephen Hawking stated that the gravitational waves could provide new perspective on astronomy. The cosmologist once predicted the theory on black holes in 1970.

"The observed properties of this system is consistent with predictions about black holes that I made in 1970 here in Cambridge. The area of the final black hole is greater than the sum of the areas of the initial black holes as predicted by my black hole area theorem," he said, as reported by The Guardian.

Join the Conversation
Real Time Analytics