Astronomers from Cardiff University just created a guide that may help scientists spot black holes in the universe. Black holes are mysterious spots which theoretically trap objects in their wake -- stars, light, and other matter. Because they swallow light, they cannot be seen in the traditional sense, but researchers realized that they may be able to find black holes by looking at gravitational waves.
Gravitational waves are waves that black holes make when they collide with objects in the universe.
The team is using a piece of equipment called a LIGO, or a Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, to detect the gravitational wave changes that may signify the presence of black holes. Black holes spin incredibly quickly, which causes their orbits to "wobble," causing gravitational waves. The scientists described this as similar to the motion a spinning top makes just before it falls over.
"Our model aims to predict this behavior and help scientists find the signals in the detector data. Sometimes the orbits of these spinning black holes look completely tangled up, like a ball of string. But if you imagine whirling around with the black holes, then it all looks much clearer, and we can write down equations to describe what is happening," said Dr. Mark Hannam.
The LIGO is an international collaboration that began in 2002. From 2002 to 2010, the researchers did not find anything, so they eventually stopped searching. However, the researchers are beginning to look again this year, with more sensitive meters. Hannam said that he believes the team will make real progress with LIGO going forward.
"For years we were stumped on how to untangle the black-hole motion. Now that we've solved that, we know what to do next," Hannam said.
Earlier this year, in September, scientists observed what looked like a black hole consuming three stars. Black holes have also been in the news a lot recently with the sci-fi movie "Interstellar", which created the most realistic ever depiction of a black hole, imagined by CalTech scientist Kip Thorne, and a biopic about Stephen Hawking, whose research about black holes is integral to what we know about them today.
