New Technology Picks Up the Sound of Distant Colliding Black Holes (Study)

Black holes must be interfering quite a lot with each other by colliding at huge speeds. However, our equipment is not able to detect whatever sound that follows the impact. Fortunately, researchers found a new technique that detects the signals released by colliding black holes. This technique picks them up from the static noise that LIGO-Virgo is constantly recording.

Colliding black holes produce gravitational ripples

Of course, there is no actual sound coming from space that human ears can capture. However, scientists discovered how to convert the signal of two colliding black holes into sound. The discovery took place in 2015 and, since then, they managed to convert six gravitational wave signals that resulted from impacts.

However, such collisions actually occur more often, and picking up every signal is quite difficult. Two colliding black holes release such gravitational wave signals that disturb the space-time fabric. Through this disturbance, they produce ripples that we’ve been able to detect only 100 years after Einstein developed his theory of relativity.

Researchers found out how to spot distant colliding black holes

Therefore, the system of detection isn’t so refined to detect all colliding black holes and their ripples. LIGO-Virgo is the collaboration that picks up these ‘sounds’. However, those faraway collisions cannot produce sounds. On the scale of the detectors, they appear as hums that was hard to detect.

After countless efforts, they finally found a way to tell these hums apart from all the other background static noise the detectors pick up. The method consists of an algorithm that measures all the background data and finds unusual signals they later turn to noises.

Researchers also made sure this system is flawless. They simulated two colliding black holes, and also added some extra background noises and glitches. The detector successfully told apart the sound of the impact from the other disturbances. They also developed a study on the matter that is soon to be published, but can be found online.

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