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Gravitational waves

Dawn of a new astronomy

The discovery of gravitational waves from a merging black-hole system opens a window on the Universe that promises to test gravity at its strongest, and to reveal many surprises about black holes and other astrophysical systems.

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Figure 1: A gravitational wave from merging black holes.

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References

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Correspondence to M. Coleman Miller.

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The author declares competing interests. M.C.M. was the chair of the LIGO Program Advisory Committee during 2010–14, and a member of the same committee for three years before that. He has never been a member of the LIGO or Virgo scientific collaborations.

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Miller, M. Dawn of a new astronomy. Nature 531, 40–41 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature17306

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