 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
 by Staff Writers Canberra, Australia (SPX) May 03, 2019
An international team of scientists, including from The Australian National University (ANU), have detected two stars colliding in space about 500 million years ago. The discovery comes just weeks after the restarting of the most sensitive scientific instrument ever built - the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) - which comprises twin detectors in the United States. This is the first time such an event has been witnessed since the detectors were taken offline for upgrades to improve their range and precision, and promises a new dawn for space discovery. On 25 April 2019, one of the LIGO machines detected the ripples in space and time from the collision of two neutron stars, which are the densest stars in the universe - they have an average radius of 15 kilometres and are twice the mass of our Sun. The neutron star collision occurred about 4,750 million trillion kilometres away from Earth - a distance which equates to 500 million light-years. ANU plays a lead role in Australia's partnership with LIGO. Professor Susan Scott, from the ANU Research School of Physics and Engineering, said the achievement was just the beginning, describing the upgraded gravitational-wave detectors as "discovery machines." "The LIGO gravitational-wave detectors are the most sensitive instruments on Earth," said Professor Scott, Leader of the General Relativity Theory and Data Analysis Group at ANU and a Chief Investigator with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav). "With the improved sensitivity of the detectors during our year of downtime, we have achieved the second detection of two neutron stars smashing into each other - this time in less than one month of observing time. "We expect to detect gravitational waves from lots more cataclysmic events - including those we've never detected before such as a black hole swallowing a neutron star and nearby exploding stars, which produce much fainter signals." Dr. Terry McRae, from the ANU Research School of Physics and Engineering, said instruments called quantum squeezers, designed at ANU, were installed on the LIGO detectors. This, and other upgrades, have improved the sensing capabilities of the machines. The squeezers dampen quantum noise that can drown out weak gravitational-wave signals. "With these improvements, the LIGO detectors can see much further into the universe and detect many more gravitational-wave signals," said Dr. McRae who, with ANU graduate student Nutsinee Kijbunchoo, was part of the team that installed and commissioned the squeezers. Professor Scott said astronomers had to scan a very large area of the sky in search for the latest star collision due to one of the LIGO detectors being offline briefly at the critical moment. The European Gravitational Observatory's gravitational-wave detector in Italy, Virgo, also picked up a signal from the neutron star collision but the signal was very weak. "ANU led efforts to locate the neutron star collision by scanning a massive region of the southern sky for bright light from the explosion with the SkyMapper telescope," said Professor Scott, who is a co-investigator on the SkyMapper team at ANU. Dr. Chris Onken, from the ANU Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, said telescopes like SkyMapper would play a vital role in detecting similar events in the future. "The hunt goes on," said Dr. Onken, who is the SkyMapper Operations Manager. "With SkyMapper's wide field of view and capability to scan large areas of the southern sky quickly, ANU will play an increasingly important role in the emerging field of gravitational-wave astronomy."
Fireworks of blue lightning and gamma rays above thunderclouds Paris (ESA) Apr 10, 2019 After only one year in space, the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) on the International Space Station has given researchers a new understanding of how lightning is created, and how thunderstorms can affect the atmosphere and the climate. The first measurements from the facility that is flying 400 km above Earth outside Europe's Columbus laboratory, reveal how so-called 'terrestrial gamma-flashes' form in the atmosphere. The flashes occur in connection with lightning and thunder storms ... read more
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Google
