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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 6821371" data-attributes="member: 177">Yes, that's the major gain here.&nbsp; In terms of new science, it gives us a window into the details of astronomical events.Basically, it is like having a new telescope - the fact that the telescope works isn't itself really a surprise or reveals new sceince, but what the new telescope *looks* at is amazing.With merging black holes, I don't think you're expecting much other radiation from the event.&nbsp; You get a lot of mass converted to energy (the power here is enormous - about three solar masses converted to gravity waves in the course of tenths of a second, if I recall the estimates correctly), but all that mass is already behind event horizons, so it all comes off as gravity waves, not as light or other particles.From merging neutron stars, you may get a much different result in terms of other observable results, as there's no even horizon in the way (at least for the start of the event).But note that the gravitational waves are moving at the speed of light - so they arrive at the same time as the light.&nbsp; You'd have to have a telescope that just happened to be looking at the right portion of the sky to see it.&nbsp; And the thing was about a billion light years away, so you're talking deep field stuff, not just inside our galaxy.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 6821371, member: 177"] Yes, that's the major gain here. In terms of new science, it gives us a window into the details of astronomical events. Basically, it is like having a new telescope - the fact that the telescope works isn't itself really a surprise or reveals new sceince, but what the new telescope *looks* at is amazing. With merging black holes, I don't think you're expecting much other radiation from the event. You get a lot of mass converted to energy (the power here is enormous - about three solar masses converted to gravity waves in the course of tenths of a second, if I recall the estimates correctly), but all that mass is already behind event horizons, so it all comes off as gravity waves, not as light or other particles. From merging neutron stars, you may get a much different result in terms of other observable results, as there's no even horizon in the way (at least for the start of the event). But note that the gravitational waves are moving at the speed of light - so they arrive at the same time as the light. You'd have to have a telescope that just happened to be looking at the right portion of the sky to see it. And the thing was about a billion light years away, so you're talking deep field stuff, not just inside our galaxy. [/QUOTE]

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