The Effect of Gravitational Waves on a Ring of Test Masses from Inspiraling Compact Binary System

Objects in orbit produce gravitational waves; however, waves are only large enough to measure when they are produced from a sufficiently large system. A system of two massive objects spiraling in toward each other, such as neutron stars, produce large enough waves that they can be measured. Our Vpython simulation demonstrates the effect of this wave on a ring of test masses, scaling up the effect so that the ring is visibly distorted.