Where Are The Missing Gravitational Waves?

Physics





Photo credit:

A visualisation of gravitational waves emitted by two orbiting supermassive black holes. CSIRO, Author provided

Neutron stars – the dead stellar remnants of old, burned-out stars – are some of the most extreme objects in the universe. They weigh as much as the entire Sun, but are small enough to fit into Sydney’s CBD, and they rotate up to 700 times every second. Imagine that: a whole star rotating faster than the fastest kitchen blender.