What are Gravity Waves?
Gravity waves are wave-like movements of air in the earth’s atmosphere, which are caused by gravity. As distinct from most air movements, gravity waves are not horizontal, but rather vertical motions in an air mass. Gravity waves, in terms of their motion, act somewhat like waves on the surface of water. Their effects are generally not felt by us, but at times they can cause a rotating thunderstorm to rotate faster, thereby spawning a tornado. The presence of the word “gravity” in “gravity waves” can make them seem more complicated than they really are. They are also not to be confused with gravitational waves, which are part of the study of astrophysics. The best way to think about a gravity wave is to imagine a pebble thrown into a pond. The water was stable and calm before, but the rock creates ripples which propagate outward and produce an up-and-down motion in the water. Gravity waves are essentially the same thing, but they occur in air rather than water. For a gravity wave to oc
I understand that someone won the Nobel Prize for discovering gravity waves. Gravity can be illustrated by taking a heavy object and placing it on an elastic fabric; the more the fabric curves, the stronger the gravity. But where do the waves come in? Gravity waves are ripples on the elastic fabric of space. If you hit or ring that heavy object, a ripple will move outward. This is a gravity wave, and it travels at the speed of light. Hulse and Taylor won the Nobel prize in 1993 for discovering a binary pulsar whose period was slowing down exactly as predicted if the pair was losing energy by giving off gravity waves. Dr.
