Astrophysics Lectures - Understanding the Universe Using Gravitational Waves - Astrid Lamberts - 07/14/2017

How do black holes form from massive stars, and why do they release gravitational waves when they merge? Lecture: 04:17; Lecture Q&A: 37:12; Panel Q&A: 45:44 Date: July 14, 2017 Lecturer: Dr. Astrid Lamberts Title: Understanding the Universe Using Gravitational Waves Abstract: Last year LIGO announced the first direct detection of gravitational waves. This was a ground-breaking discovery, made possible by decades of effort by hundreds of scientists. The signal LIGO detected came from the merger of two black holes, each of them 30 times more massive than the Sun. These objects were unexpectedly massive and not predicted by theory. In this talk I will explain how such black holes could form and how future detections will improve our understanding of the most massive stars, from the Big Bang to the present. Event Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143414768@N07/albums/72157669913115897 Echo360 Two-Pane Video Stream: https://echo360.org/section/df8345ec-7d0c-4dc3-b450-65a423c24650/public Thumbnail image credit: Robert Hurt/Caltech-JPL https://www.sciencenews.org/article/spin-may-reveal-black-hole-history