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?
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     __________________________________________________________________

    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/