Detection of Gravitational Waves Opens a New Window on the Universe

(light music)

[Narrator] In deep space, two black holes

circled each other.

Their mass propagating gravitational waves

across the fabric of the universe at light speed.

The two black holes eventually crashed into one another

and merged into one even bigger black hole

emitting a crescendo of waves.

Scientists have been searching for proof of that collision

and they just found it.

Now, it's true.

LIGO, a gravitational wave observatory,

has had a few false alarms,

but this time the astronomers are pretty sure,

with a 99.99994% degree of confidence.

So what does this mean?

First, it confirms Einstein's theory of general relativity.

Second, now astrophysicists can actually

use the waves to do science.

By recording the way gravitational waves interact

with a physical system, LIGO will let astronomers

probe into the details of the universe.

Scientists can learn what the universe was like

in its infancy, what gravity is like at its most extreme,

and how hyper dense matter behaves.

The map of the universe just got a bit more detailed.

You're welcome Einstein.