Solange Nunes

Two black holes whirl faster and faster, draw closer, and merge into one. The space around them trembles — that tremor travels across the universe for billions of years and finally makes detector mirrors sway by a fraction of an atom. Scientists catch this signal and want to know exactly which holes produced it.

At the end of a massive star's life, its core collapses in a fraction of a second, giving birth to a supernova flash. This cataclysm shakes spacetime itself, emitting gravitational waves — ripples that race across the Universe.