Science & Technology, UK (Commonwealth Union) – An international team of astronomers has made a groundbreaking discovery after meticulously observing the cosmos for a quarter of a century. Their findings provide the initial evidence of ultra-low-frequency gravitational waves, shedding light on an intriguing phenomenon.
These gravitational waves are anticipated to emanate from pairs of supermassive black holes situated within the merging cores of galaxies. Unveiling this cosmic revelation holds profound implications for comprehending the formation and evolution of the Universe and the multitude of galaxies within it, including our very own Milky Way.
This monumental achievement is the culmination of extensive observations conducted over the past 25 years. The research team utilized the extraordinary sensitivity of six prominent radio telescopes worldwide, including the esteemed Lovell Telescope at The University of Manchester’s Jodrell Bank Observatory. Collaboratively, the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) researchers, in conjunction with their Indian and Japanese counterparts from the Indian Pulsar Timing Array (InPTA), present their findings.
The remarkable results of this momentous endeavor have been published today in the esteemed journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, marking a significant milestone in our understanding of the cosmos.
Dr Michael Keith, Lecturer at Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester, says “The results presented today mark the beginning of a new journey into the Universe to unveil some of its unsolved mysteries.”
“We are incredibly excited that after decades of work by hundreds of astronomers and physicists around the world, we are finally seeing the signature of gravitational waves from the distant Universe.”
Gravitational waves are ripples in space capable of being formed by 2 objects orbiting each other. But they are extremely weak and hard to detect.
An international team of astronomers has made a groundbreaking discovery after meticulously observing the cosmos for a quarter of a century. Their findings provide the initial evidence of ultra-low-frequency gravitational waves, shedding light on an intriguing phenomenon.
These gravitational waves are anticipated to emanate from pairs of supermassive black holes situated within the merging cores of galaxies. Unveiling this cosmic revelation holds profound implications for comprehending the formation and evolution of the Universe and the multitude of galaxies within it, including our very own Milky Way.
This monumental achievement is the culmination of extensive observations conducted over the past 25 years. The research team utilized the extraordinary sensitivity of six prominent radio telescopes worldwide, including the esteemed Lovell Telescope at The University of Manchester’s Jodrell Bank Observatory. Collaboratively, the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) researchers, in conjunction with their Indian and Japanese counterparts from the Indian Pulsar Timing Array (InPTA), present their findings.
The remarkable results of this momentous endeavor have been published today in the esteemed journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, marking a significant milestone in our understanding of the cosmos.
By observing the gravitational waves generated by orbiting pairs of supermassive black holes, each weighing hundreds of millions of times more than our sun, we gain valuable insights into the evolution of galaxies and the enigmatic black holes nestled within their cores.
The European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) comprises a collaborative effort among scientists from over ten institutions across Europe, uniting astronomers and theoretical physicists with a shared objective of detecting gravitational waves. They achieve this by studying an array of pulsars, which are neutron stars emitting radio waves, with the explicit purpose of uncovering these elusive waves.
Collectively, the observations of pulsars form a colossal gravitational wave detector spanning the expanse of our Galaxy. This vast detector reaches from Earth to 25 meticulously selected pulsars scattered throughout our Galaxy. Consequently, it becomes possible to investigate gravitational waves with wavelengths significantly longer than those detected by other experiments.
