
Discovery marks first cosmic event observed in both gravitational waves and light in a milestone for multimessenger astronomy
Artist’s illustration of two merging neutron stars.
Media Description:
Artist’s illustration of two merging neutron stars. The rippling space-time grid represents gravitational waves that travel out from the collision, while the narrow beams show the bursts of gamma rays that are shot out just seconds after the gravitational waves. Swirling clouds of material ejected from the merging stars are also depicted. The clouds glow with visible and other wavelengths of light.
Media use and copyright:
Image credit: NSF/LIGO/Sonoma State University/A. Simonnet