"Researchers have spotted visible-light evidence for one of astronomy's most elusive targets - gravity waves - in the orbit of a pair of dead stars.
Until now, these ripples in space-time, first predicted by Einstein, have only been inferred from radio-wave sources.
But a change in the orbits of two white dwarf stars orbiting one another 3,000 light-years away is further proof of the waves that can literally be seen.
A study to be reported in Astrophysical Journal Letters describes the pair.
Gravitational waves were a significant part of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, which viewed space itself as a malleable construct, and the gravity of massive objects as a force that could effectively warp it.
Catching sight of an actual gravity wave, however, is a tricky business; their effects are far too small to be measured with Earth-bound experiments.
But the wider Universe provides a laboratory in which the indirect effects of gravity waves can be measured."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19408363
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