Two University of Manitoba researchers are exploring the cosmos with one philosophical question in mind. Dr. Samar Safi-Harb and postdoctoral fellow Nathan Steinle are part of a team using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), a facility capable of detecting gravitational waves. “Not everything in the universe can be seen with light, and gravitational waves are a new way of looking at the universe. These are ripples in the fabric of space-time,” Safi-Harb said. LIGO recently detected a collision between two black holes — an event that stands out for its scale. “It’s the most massive black hole merger detected by LIGO. And by ‘most massive,’ I mean each of these black holes is more than 100 times the mass of the sun,” she said. Until now, black holes of this size had not been directly observed. LIGO’s detection provides the first direct evidence of their existence, according to Safi-Harb. Steinle said the discovery raises fundamental questions. “It’s so important because we’re not sure if there’s an upper limit on the mass. Can it keep getting bigger and bigger until we all grow old?” he said. He added that the finding is just the beginning. “It really gives you great hope. Once future detectors are built — and they’ll have at least 10 times better sensitivity — we’ll be able to do a lot more,” he said. For Safi-Harb, the discovery brings scientists one step closer to understanding the universe. “Finding these extreme events — whether through light, gravitational waves or other cosmic messengers — really brings us a bit closer to understanding our cosmic origins,” she said.
