Message #20652

[mccoy]

Inspiral waves:

nspiral gravitational waves are generated during the end-of-life stage of binary systems where the two objects merge into one.  These systems are usually two neutron stars, two black holes, or a neutron star and a black hole whose orbits have degraded to the point that the two masses are about to coalesce.  As the two masses rotate around each other, their orbital distances decrease and their speeds increase, much like a spinning figure skater who draws his or her arms in close to their body.  This causes the frequency of the gravitational waves to increase until the moment of coalescence.  - See more at: http://www.ligo.org/science/GW-Inspiral.php#sthash.epf2kvAH.dpuf