Unusual Cloud formation

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by Brenners

That line of cloud looks like it may be associated with something called a gravity wave.

Hmm, I thought gravity waves exist in little more than theory. Their effect is so slight that scientists are struggling to set up experiments that demonstrate their existence.

Shoot me down though - I should really have done a hard Google before I stated the above, but couldn't be ars*d!
;^)

Jim

[Brenners]

Hi Jim!

Gravity waves are pretty much accepted science although I think they're pretty much impossible to simulate in the lab - so in that respect, they're theoretical.

Here's quite a nice account of them from NASA:

NASA - Gravity Waves make Tornados

Bren

[Jim Ford]

Ahh! I thought _gravitational_ waves were being discussed as being responsible for cloud formation - these (from Wikipedia):

"In physics, a gravitational wave is a fluctuation in the curvature of spacetime which propagates as a wave, traveling outward from a moving object or system of objects. Gravitational radiation is the energy transported by these waves. Important examples of systems which emit gravitational waves are binary star systems, where the two stars in the binary are white dwarfs, neutron stars, or black holes.

Although gravitational radiation has not yet been directly detected, it has been indirectly shown to exist. This was the basis for the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics, awarded for measurements of the Hulse-Taylor binary system."

_Gravity_ waves are not so esoteric!

Jim

[Brenners]

Ah yes, easily confused! I'm not sure why someone decided to name them so similarly! Put it this way, if clouds were appearing in the sky as a result of time and space bending at the seams, I'd be a nervous wreck by now

Bren