Why Does Gravity Travel at the Speed of Light?

As with so much in physics, it has to do with Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

D-brief
By Eric Betz
Dec 8, 2017 6:04 PMApr 17, 2020 7:04 PM
Two neutron stars colliding - NSF
Two neutron stars collide; the resulting gravitational wave spread at the speed of light. (Credit: National Science Foundation/LIGO/Sonoma State University/A. Simonne)

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The dead cores of two stars collided 130 million years ago in a galaxy somewhat far away.

The collision was so extreme that it caused a wrinkle in space-time — a gravitational wave. That gravitational wave and the light from the stellar explosion traveled together across the cosmos. They arrived at Earth simultaneously at 6:41 a.m. Eastern on August 17.

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