When were Gravitational waves detected?

Scientists announced that they had made the first direct detection of gravitational waves on February 11, 2016. However, the observation had been made in September 2015. Albert Einstein had said that something special happens when two bodies – such as planets or stars – – orbit each other. He believed that this kind of movement could cause ripples in space. He called it the gravitational waves and described it in his general relativity theory in 1915. But it took about 100 years for scientists to get concrete proof of their existence. Scientists observed these gravitational waves produced by the collision of two neutron stars some 130 million light years away using a very sensitive instrument called LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory) in the U.S. The explanation goes that these waves rippled through the universe, effectively warping the fabric of space-time, before passing through Earth as faint traces of their former, violent origins.

 

Picture Credit : Google