Gravitational waves are waves of the intensity of gravity that are generated by the accelerated masses of binary stars and other motions of gravitating masses, and propagate as waves outward from their source at the speed of light. They were first proposed by Oliver Heaviside in 1893 and then later by Henri Poincaré in 1905 as the gravitational equivalent of electromagnetic waves. Gravitational waves are sometimes called gravity waves, but gravity waves typically refer to displacement waves in fluids.
In 1916 Albert Einstein demonstrated that gravitational waves result from his general theory of relativity as ripples in spacetime.
The gravitational wave spectrum with sources and detectors. Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Artist's impression of merging neutron stars, a source of gravitational waves
Now disproved evidence allegedly showing gravitational waves in the infant universe was found by the BICEP2 radio telescope. The microscopic examination of the focal plane of the BICEP2 detector is shown here. In January 2015, however, the BICEP2 findings were confirmed to be the result of cosmic dust.
In physics, gravity (from Latin gravitas 'weight') is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things that have mass. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the strong interaction, 1036 times weaker than the electromagnetic force and 1029 times weaker than the weak interaction. As a result, it has no significant influence at the level of subatomic particles. However, gravity is the most significant interaction between objects at the macroscopic scale, and it determines the motion of planets, stars, galaxies, and even light.
The shape of two massive galaxies in the picture are distorted due to gravity.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa, where according to legend Galileo performed an experiment about the speed of falling objects
English physicist and mathematician, Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727)
An illustration of the Schwarzschild metric, which describes spacetime around a spherical, uncharged, and nonrotating object with mass