Quote:
Originally Posted by bojan
~3 solar masses were converted into energy and radiated in the form of gravitational waves.
I am wondering.. if grav energy in form of waves are being emitted, they should be also absorbed, right? Moving and shaking, compressing and stretching masses around..
What effect (on us) would have been if this merger were closer, say in Milky way.. or Magellanic clouds?
If there was a (measurable) effect on light path as consequence of this distant merger, surely the effect would have been very visible if we were closer to the merger?
And how close we should be to see/feel anything?
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Gravitational waves unlike electromagnetic waves hardly interact with matter.
Gravitational waves act like a mass spring damper system where the amplitude and energy decay over time.
By the time GW150914 reached us only a minute amount of the original energy and amplitude remained.
Not sure of the effects of a gravitational wave originating from the distance of the LMC but nearby you would be flattened in one direction and streched out in the perpendicular direction.