Gravity waves spotted from white-dwarf pair (BBC)

By Jason Palmer

Science and technology reporter, BBC News

Researchers have spotted visible-light evidence for one of astronomy's most elusive targets - gravity waves - in the orbit of a pair of dead stars.

Until now, these ripples in space-time, first predicted by Einstein, have only been inferred from radio-wave sources.

But a change in the orbits of two white dwarf stars orbiting one another 3,000 light-years away is further proof of the waves that can literally be seen.

A study to be reported in Astrophysical Journal Letters describes the pair.

Gravitational waves were a significant part of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, which viewed space itself as a malleable construct, and the gravity of massive objects as a force that could effectively warp it.
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more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19408363




(Yes, there's a little hyperbole here -- this was a visual-light observation of a change in orbital period, which is indirect evidence of gravity waves, *assuming* there isn't some other cause.)