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Astronomy

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    $\begingroup$ The absorbed energy is probably the real hard part. The gravitational waves will have to couple somehow to acoustic waves. $\endgroup$
    – fraxinus
    Commented Oct 6, 2020 at 8:28
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    $\begingroup$ @JanStulter The Earth is bigger than humans. The distortion of an object by a given strain is proportional to the size of the object. $\endgroup$
    – Steve Linton
    Commented Oct 6, 2020 at 8:46
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    $\begingroup$ @SteveLinton: I somehow assumed that the distortion induced by gravity-waves is independent of the size of the object. Thinking of ocean waves, they will lift an oil-tanker the same way as a human body, when they pass underneath these "objects". I intuitively thought that gravity-waves passing through space time would "ripple" through objects the same way. $\endgroup$
    – Jan Stuller
    Commented Oct 6, 2020 at 9:29
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    $\begingroup$ @JanStuller think instead of sound waves in water. The water is alternately compressed and stretched. A soft jellyfish floating in the water will be compressed or stretched proportionately to its size. Another consideration is that the wavelength is pretty large, at least comparable to the Earth. $\endgroup$
    – Steve Linton
    Commented Oct 6, 2020 at 15:27
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    $\begingroup$ @JanStuller The closer they orbit (and therefore the faster) the more intense the gravity waves they emit (by quite a lot) and also the higher frequency, which makes them easier to detect. If our detectors were more sensitive and to lower frequencies, we could detect them earlier. $\endgroup$
    – Steve Linton
    Commented Oct 7, 2020 at 20:46