Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2024 May 10 IFRAME: [2]https://www.youtube.com/embed/I_88S8DWbcU?rel=0 Simulation: Two Black Holes Merge Simulation Credit: [3]Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes Project Explanation: Relax and watch two black holes merge. Inspired by the first [4]direct detection of gravitational waves in 2015, [5]this simulation plays in slow motion but would take about one third of a second if run in real time. Set on a cosmic stage, the black holes are posed in front of stars, gas, and dust. Their extreme gravity lenses the light [6]from behind them into [7]Einstein rings as they spiral closer and finally merge into one. The otherwise invisible gravitational waves generated as the massive objects rapidly coalesce cause the visible image to ripple and slosh both inside and outside the [8]Einstein rings even after the [9]black holes have merged. [10]Dubbed GW150914, the gravitational waves [11]detected by LIGO are consistent with the merger of 36 and 31 solar mass black holes at a distance of 1.3 billion light-years. The final, single black hole has 63 times the mass of the Sun, with the remaining 3 solar masses converted into energy radiated in [12]gravitational waves. Today's Event Horizon: [13]It's Black Hole Week at NASA! Tomorrow's picture: What's 42-5? __________________________________________________________________ [14]< | [15]Archive | [16]Submissions | [17]Index | [18]Search | [19]Calendar | [20]RSS | [21]Education | [22]About APOD | [23]Discuss | [24]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [25]Robert Nemiroff ([26]MTU) & [27]Jerry Bonnell ([28]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [29]Specific rights apply. [30]NASA Web Privacy, [31]Accessibility Notices A service of: [32]ASD at [33]NASA / [34]GSFC, [35]NASA Science Activation & [36]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://www.youtube.com/embed/I_88S8DWbcU?rel=0 3. http://www.black-holes.org/ 4. https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/news/ligo20160211 5. https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/video/ligo20160211v3 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap141026.html 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080728.html 8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein_ring 9. https://www.black-holes.org/the-science-numerical-relativity/numerical-relativity/gravitational-lensing 10. http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102 11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gravitational_wave_observations 12. https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/gravitational-waves 13. https://science.nasa.gov/universe/black-hole-week/ 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240509.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 18. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 23. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240510 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240511.html 25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 28. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 30. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 31. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 32. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 33. https://www.nasa.gov/ 34. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 35. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 36. http://www.mtu.edu/