[walnutclosefarm]

But the higher frequency waves detected by LIGO are not caused by two bodies orbiting their common center of mass at a distance, but rather by two much smaller masses - a few to a few tens times the mass of our sun - than the ones described in the cartoon. These masses orbits have decayed and they are spiraling into each other merging. The Short waves we detect only occur in the final bit of the spiral and merge - we see only the final milliseconds of the merger, and just a few wave crests.

[ooterness]

The idea of something with ten solar masses moving so fast still terrifies me. It's just mind-boggling to think about something at that scale completing an orbit in the blink of an eye.

I am reminded of Randall Monroe taking about the sheer energy of a supernova:

> Which of the following would be brighter, in terms of the amount of energy delivered to your retina:

> A supernova, seen from as far away as the Sun is from the Earth, or

> The detonation of a hydrogen bomb pressed against your eyeball?

> Applying the physicist rule of thumb suggests that the supernova is brighter. And indeed, it is ... by nine orders of magnitude.

https://what-if.xkcd.com/73/