An extreme nubie here, please excuse the absolute basic question if it is one.

I read that more heavy elements are created as the by-product of neutron star collision. The process is commonly known as r-process.

The Gama rays generated by such an event and the gravitational waves themselves take millions of years to reach earth.

How is it that the elements created by such processes have reached earth already? (The waves have been detected first time ever last year) Is this because there have been many more neutron star collisions before this one? May be billions of years ago? Even In such a case, how do these heavy elements travel back to Earth? Or were they created on our earth as part of the process of creation of Earth itself?

A few details or a good reading material in this regard is highly appreciated.

Thanks

I saw this in the New York Times' coverage of this discovery:

Conveyed by these gravitational waves, power 50 times greater than the output of all the stars in the universe combined vibrated a pair of L-shaped antennas in Washington State and Louisiana known as LIGO on Sept. 14.

That's quite a statement! But what does it really mean?

In light of today's news regarding the discovery of gravitational waves from black holes this subreddit now exists. Feel free to share (text post or links) any information about gravitational waves in the future.

But!

This subreddit is not solely dedicated to new information about gravitational waves and how it relates to our general existence, but also new discoveries in astronomy and how they may relate to gravitational waves.

Hello community

I have developed a concept that allow gravitational waves detection in a compact lab and detecting all axes.
Have a look and do not hesitate to question if any doubt.

DOI https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20077345

If you're interested and willing to moderate and grow this community, please go to r/redditrequest, where you can submit a request to take over the community. Be sure to read through the faq for r/redditrequest before submitting.

I'm a recent 12th grade graduate from India who developed a theoretical framework exploring whether information can modify gravity with all verified mathematical proofs. Built a live interactive simulator where you can change black hole mass in real-time and see the effects. MY PAPER : https://www.academia.edu/165777071/IdeaInformation_Induced_Modifications_to_Gravity?source=swp_shareMY WEBSITE WITH 3D SIMULATOR: https://my-theory-web.vercel.app/