File:BlackHoles BinaryWaves.png

Gravitational waves from a black hole binary inspiral: still frame from an inspiral movie. Colours correspond to the gravitational wave amplitude; time is measured from the start of the simulation in units of the characteristic timescale of the system. After an initial burst of "junk" radiation (due to inexact initial data), the radiation field settles into a spiral pattern of increasing amplitude and shortening wavelength as the holes spiral together, followed by a brief exponentially-damped burst of "ringdown" radiation as the final hole settles to equilibrium. Numerical simulation and animation produced by Frans Pretorius, http://physics.princeton.edu/~fpretori/