Distance from black holes:
meters
Force measured on Earth:
waveValue
meters
Force measured here:
meters
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Speed:
Plus Polarization
Cross Polarization
Flatten to 2D Space
Expand to 3D Space
Render as mesh
Render as nodes
Time:
MS
Wave value:
meters
Black Hole Velocity:
of the speed of light
Black Hole Separation:
Schwarzschild radii
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Gravitational waves were detected for the first time on September 14th, 2015.
This is a visualization of that signal (GW150914).

Gravitational waves are oscillations in spacetime curvature that originate from binary systems of extremely dense objects like black holes or neutron stars. In this case, two black holes with masses of 29 and 36 M☉ gradually lost gravitational energy and began to inspiral. Their mutual orbital diameter decreased and they coalesced into a single black hole with a mass of 62 M☉. The lost gravitational energy and remaining 3 solar masses were radiated in these gravitational waves.
The resulting ripples propagated through spacetime to Earth, where they expanded and contracted LIGO's detectors by a factor of 10-21, or about 10 times the size of an atomic nucleus. The closer an object is to the wave source, the greater the amplitude of the wave and the more objects are distorted.

The gravitational wave data was made public by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) and the Virgo Collaboration. It signals the beginning of a new era of gravitational wave physics and reveals previously undetectable information about the origins of the universe.

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Navigating the 3D scene:
Scroll to zoom.
Click and drag to rotate the view.

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The Wave Signal
The graph below shows 140 milliseconds of the signal detected with LIGO's interferometers. The red line represents the estimated speed of the black holes, and the purple line shows their orbital distance.
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Animation Controls
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Polarization
Gravitational waves distort matter differently depending on the wave polarization. Here you can switch between "plus" and "cross" polarizations.
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Spacetime Transformations
Many visualizations of relativity show spacetime as a flat plane, but this one shows it volumetrically too. Here you can swtich between planar and volumetric spacetime.
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Rendering Style
Here you can choose between two 3D rendering styles, "nodes" or "mesh".
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Take Measurements
In the "nodes" view, hover over a node to measure the amount of distortion from the gravitational wave. Click on the node to lock onto it and keep measuring.
The strength of distortion and the amplitude of gravitational waves are inversely related to distance from the source. See how the waves get stronger closer to the black holes.
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