Black holes are one of the most powerful and forceful objects in the universe, and when two collide they send ripples through space time – known as gravitational waves. The mysterious entities can have a mass tens of billions of times that of the sun, so when two collide you would expect one of the most powerful explosions in the cosmos. But this is not the case.
Instead, observations from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) lab revealed the merger of two black holes – each of which were about 30 times the mass of the sun – sounds like a “bird’s chirp”.
LIGO said: “Gravitational waves sent out from a pair of colliding black holes have been converted to sound waves, as heard in this animation.
“The incredibly powerful event, which released 50 times more energy than all the stars in the observable universe, lasted only fractions of a second.
“As the black holes spiral closer and closer in together, the frequency of the gravitational waves increases. Scientists call these sounds ‘chirps,’ because some events that generate gravitation waves would sound like a bird’s chirp.”
Black holes can be phenomenally big.
For example, Sagittarius A* – the gigantic black hole at the centre of the galaxy – has a radius of 22 million kilometres and a mass of more than four million times that of the sun.
The largest black hole to ever have been discovered is TON 618 which has a mass of 66 billion times that of the sun.
There are a few ways in which a black hole can form.
Scientists believe the most common instance is when a star, thousands of times the size of our sun, collapses in on itself when it dies – known as a supernova.
Another way is when a large amount of matter, which can be in the form of a gas cloud or a star collapses in on itself through its own gravitational pull.
Finally, the collision of two neutron stars can cause a black hole.
The gist of all three ways is that a massive amount of mass located in one spot can cause a black hole.
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Black holes remain one of the most mysterious entities in the universe, but what is known of them is terrifying.
They completely break the laws of physics with their singularity at the centre, which is a one-dimensional point where gravity becomes infinite and space and time become curved.
The only other point in nature where a singularity existed is at the Big Bang when the universe came into existence.
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