Astronomers detect evidence of universe's 'background hum'
The breakthrough was hailed as a major milestone that opens a new window into the universe.
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The breakthrough was hailed as a major milestone that opens a new window into the universe.
Albert Einstein in 1916 proposed the existence of gravitational waves as an outgrowth of his ground-breaking general theory of relativity. Scientists described the universe's gravitational wave background as the equivalent of hearing the hum of a large group of people talking at a party, without being able to distinguish any individual voice.
Professor Alberto Vecchio, the head of astrophysics and space research at the University of Birmingham, said the detection of ultra-low frequency gravitational waves represented the "gold-standard in physics".
By observing their effect on pulsars, astronomers have detected low frequency gravitational waves emerging from the distant Universe for the first time.
A globe-spanning group of physicists used pulsars to measure the waves, which they believe emanated from pairs of supermassive black holes.