News Cosmology

How to make gravitational waves ‘sing’

Interstellar’s massive black hole would create unique signal when gobbling smaller partner

illustration of a black hole's accretion disk

NEW WAVE If the supermassive black hole from the film Interstellar were real, scientists might be able to detect a unique signature of its gravitational waves as it swallowed a companion. This visualization shows the fictional black hole’s accretion disk.

James et al /Class. Quantum Grav. 2015 (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

By Emily Conover

- More than 2 years ago

SALT LAKE CITY — When black holes collide, astronomers expect to record a gravitational wave “chirp.”