Prémio Nobel da Física - 2017 Gravitational waves are produced in acceleration of masses with spherical asymmetry. They propagate at the speed of light, stressing and compressing spacetime; distances in space increase and decrease with a steady cadence in two directions at 90 degrees to each other, orthogonal to the direction of motion of the wave. The effect is very small: for a released energy corresponding to about 3 solar masses like in the first event detected by LIGO in 2015, the relative strain at Earth is about 10^-22 – i.e., the distance between the Earth and the Sun changes by about the size of an atom. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)