Science

erronis

(20,662 posts)

4. Do the gravitational waves move at the same speed as the light originating from the source?

Wed May 17, 2023, 09:18 AM

May 2023

I'll assume (yes, that makes me one) that gravitational waves move at the speed of light - can't be faster based on Einstein's theory of special relativity. But light can travel more slowly than c (the maximum speed) depending on lensing or travelling through a non-perfect vacuum.

So if the gravitational wave detectors sense an event and tell the visible light telescopes to scan that part of the sky, would there be some possible delay in visible light detection?

I'm going back to bed now.

Edit history

Please sign in to view edit histories.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

7 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

New trio of telescopes scans the southern sky for gravitational waves [View all] Judi Lynn May 2023 OP

I Freakin' LOVE science! lastlib May 2023 #1

I agree with you. Can't understand it all but just trying to is what makes life worthwhile. erronis May 2023 #3

Yikes! Everything we are is held together by gravity, GreenWave May 2023 #2

Do the gravitational waves move at the same speed as the light originating from the source? erronis May 2023 #4

According to this source gravitational waves are "expected" to travel at the speed of light. Jim__ May 2023 #5

Thanks for that excerpt. More reading ahead for me! erronis May 2023 #7

An interesting article in phys.org touching on some of the science behind this effort erronis May 2023 #6