UPSC Previous Year Question | Prelims GS | 2019

Recently, scientists observed the merger of giant 'blackholes' billions of light-years away from the Earth. What is the significance of this observation?

  1. 'Higgs boson particles' were detected.
  2. 'Gravitational waves' were detected.
  3. Possibility of inter-galactic space travel through 'wormhole' was confirmed.
  4. It enabled the scientists to understand 'singularity'.

Answer

Correct Answer

'Gravitational waves' were detected.

Explanation

The merger of black holes produces ripples in spacetime called gravitational waves, first directly detected by LIGO in 2015 (Nobel Prize 2017). The observation of such mergers confirmed the detection of gravitational waves.

Topics: black hole mergers (ligo), gravitational waves, science and technology, space and astrophysics