Kosmisches Kino: What does gravity sound like?

Everything we know about the cosmos we have learned so far from light. Light that reaches our telescopes and satellites from all directions and sometimes from immeasurable distances in the form of electromagnetic waves: radio waves, infrared, visible light or even X-rays and gamma rays. But what secrets does the Universe hold beyond their reach?

Around a hundred years ago, Albert Einstein predicted a completely new phenomenon: gravitational waves. These are ripples in the fabric of space and time. Gravitational waves occur when bodies, i.e. masses, accelerate. When extreme celestial bodies such as black holes spiral around each other, their gravity creates strong wave patterns that spread throughout space.

Gravitational waves are imperceptible to us and cannot be detected with conventional telescopes. But they can be analysed like sound waves. In recent years, scientists have learned to "listen" to gravity with instruments that can detect gravitational waves from the distant Universe. The European Space Agency (ESA) now has the ambitious plan to station LISA, a giant gravitational wave detector, in space to find new gravitational wave sources.

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In this Kosmisches Kino, you will “experience” a new way of perceiving the Universe. Valeriya Korol from the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA) will take you on an acoustic journey through the cosmos: from the chirping of merging binary stars, to the hum of fossil star systems, to the deep rumble of massive black holes.

This event will be in English.