Explore every gravitational wave event spotted so far
Fifty events reveal the similarities and differences in these cosmic smashups
Gravitational waves, produced when behemoths like black holes and neutron stars spiral inward and merge, have been spotted 50 times (each event represented with a large circle above).
Nadieh Bremer/
VisualCinnamon.com
Throughout the universe, violent collisions of cosmic beasts such as black holes wrench the fabric of spacetime, producing ripples called gravitational waves. For most of history, humans have been oblivious to those celestial rumbles.