Science General Discussion

[Legend]

This is so exciting!

It's amazing that they've finally found them, I can't wait to see what else they'll discover now they know how to do it!

Well they already kinda knew how to do it, but there was always the worry some prediction or calculation was wrong. Now that it's confirmed to be useful science, investing in more interferometers isn't as risky.

[the-pi-guy]

This was in my feed.

Richard Muller: What, if anything, does the detection of gravitational waves mean for physics? - Quora

I am hoping the successful detection of gravitational waves will open the door for the discovery of unexpected phenomena, particularly in the Milky Way galaxy, possibly in the nature of strong gravity.
It is wonderful that their first detection came so soon after they turned the detectors on; that suggests that there will be many detections per year. In addition, the nature of the discovery-- a rapidly oscillating signal that decayed quickly -- is exciting. It's obvious interpretation, that of a black hole and star falling into each other, is very interesting. It is,perhaps, the most interesting of the expected phenomena, and if it is common, then it is even more interesting.  It is not yet clear what will will learn from the observation, particularly if it just verifies what we expected, but it is likely that there will be something unexpected too.
I emphases again, as I did in previous postings to Quora, that this is not the first proof that gravity waves exist, nor is there anything yet that verifies something in general relativity that was previously unverified. The Taylor-Hulse binary pulsar, back in the 1970s, accomplished that.  Indeed, the discovery of that binary pulsar was a prime motivation and justification for building the new detector array, called LIGO. It demonstrated that rapidly rotating binary stars do emit gravitational waves, and therefore a design such as LIGO will indeed make detections, if it could be built to the claimed sensitivity. That has now been accomplished.
The fact that the signal was seen in two detectors (one in Washington and one in Louisiana) was absolute critical to their announcement. If it had been seen in only one, there is not sufficient surety of the signal behavior to enable it to be verified as a gravitational wave. The fact that it was seen on two detectors also allows us to determine the direction to within a band on the sky, the center of the band determined by the relative arrival time at the two detectors, and the width of the band determined by the uncertainty in that arrival time.
Unfortunately, that same event is a one-timer, so it will not be seen again. (It would be great if it were! That would indicate something unexpected.) If it were seen again, as the Earth rotates, it would be a different band on the sky, and the intersection of the two bands would allow us to locate it to within two small regions; regions that could be examined optically.
It is unfortunate to see so much discussion online about a Nobel Prize. No fundamental discovery has been made -- yet. An elegant and clever instrument was built that does what it was meant to do, and it made an observation. The discoveries are yet to come.  LIGO may change our understanding of the dynamics of black holes, of gravity waves, and of the nature and make-up of the Milky Way galaxy. It hasn't done so yet, but the odds are in its favor.

This is so exciting!

It's amazing that they've finally found them, I can't wait to see what else they'll discover now they know how to do it!

It sounds like they had indirect proof of it, but this is the first direct proof of waves.  

[Legend]

Virgin Galactic will unveil its new spaceplane tomorrow | The Verge

[Cute Pikachu]

I hate chemistry and physics and anatomy and psychology and geology and geography.

[the-pi-guy]

I hate chemistry and physics and anatomy and psychology and geology and geography.

Physics can't be hated.  

[Legend]

Physics can't be hated.  

[Legend]

http://60abc.com/2016/02/19/bransons-virgin-galactic-spaceship-two-is-getting-ready-to-launch/

[Xevross]

I hate chemistry and physics and anatomy and psychology and geology and geography.

Explain yourself! Right now!

[DD_Bwest]

SpaceX is hoping to do the Static fire test for the Ses-9 mission today,   with launch windows on wensday and thursday.

Launching from florida, with the landing attempt on a drone ship.  although ive heard that landing of the first stage  will be dubious because of the launch profile.  something about it putting the first stage right around the edge of its survivalbility on re-entry

[Legend]

SpaceX is hoping to do the Static fire test for the Ses-9 mission today,   with launch windows on wensday and thursday.

Launching from florida, with the landing attempt on a drone ship.  although ive heard that landing of the first stage  will be dubious because of the launch profile.  something about it putting the first stage right around the edge of its survivalbility on re-entry

I have faith!


SpaceX has gotten really good at reaching the landing pad successfully. Any failure I bet would occur at the last second.

[DD_Bwest]

I have faith!


SpaceX has gotten really good at reaching the landing pad successfully. Any failure I bet would occur at the last second.

i think opposite lol  they have got really good at getting it to the pad,  and would have made the last one if it wasnt for the hardware fail,  that aslong as it survives re-entry after stage seperation, i think they will land it.    If something fails it will be under the high stress while it still has all that velocity lol

[DD_Bwest]

Static test complete.   heres hoping the weather works on wensday!

[Legend]

Ready to go!

Getting ready...two days! @AFSpace @usairforce @SpaceX #ses9 pic.twitter.com/pjDeZYBDPb

— 45th Space Wing (@45thSpaceWing) February 22, 2016

EDT: wait, this tweet is before yours ^ oops

[DD_Bwest]

Ready to go!

Getting ready...two days! @AFSpace @usairforce @SpaceX #ses9 pic.twitter.com/pjDeZYBDPb

— 45th Space Wing (@45thSpaceWing) February 22, 2016

EDT: wait, this tweet is before yours ^ oops

yup that was earlier today,  someone noticed that since the rocket was up they would be doing the static test, then later spacex confirmed the test. lol

the link for wensday for those who wanna watch it

[DD_Bwest]

http://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/spacex_ses9_press_kit_final.pdf

lol they say a successful landing isnt expected lol but who knows