Scientists detect gravitational waves for first time from black holes swallowing neutron stars The team of researchers detected the two gravitational wave events--from distances of more than 900 million light-years away--within a span of 10 days in January 2020. Washington: For the first time, scientists detected gravitational waves caused by mergers between black holes and neutron stars. The team of researchers detected the two gravitational wave events--from distances of more than 900 million light-years away--within a span of 10 days in January 2020. The study was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. Researchers from Rochester Institute of Technology's Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation (CCRG) helped identify key characteristics of the merger events.