this post was submitted on 29 Jun 2023
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Astronomy
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This article says these particular gravitational waves have a frequency of perhaps a decade? Am I reading this right?
Talk about a massive wave. You got it, a wave period of decades. Space is big, mind-bogglingly big....
Right, so... Do gravitational waves theoretically travel at the speed of light? I studied physics way back in the 90s, I recall the universal gravitational constant, I don't think gravity waves were a thing yet. I'm just trying to get an idea of the wavelength.
Edit: Yes, they are theorized to be light speed waves with a potential wavelength spanning the entire universe.
Shit like this makes me regret changing majors. I miss thinking about the fundamental nature of reality in mathematical terms.
Yes, that's correct: Gravitational waves travel at the speed of light.
Yeah I had to look it up and now recall learning about the theory! Funny what a brain forgets. My brain at least.
It really is amazing what you can do with statistics and a large enough data set. I can't wait for what this brings the community in a few years!