New trio of telescopes scans the southern sky for gravitational waves

[Judi Lynn]

By Paul McClure
May 16, 2023



A night view of the three telescopes of the BlackGEM array at ESO’s La Silla Observatory, Chile. The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds can be seen just above the telescopesESO

The new BlackGEM telescopic array at the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) La Silla Observatory in Chile has officially begun scanning the southern skies, searching for the sources of gravitational waves.

Gravitational waves are ripples in space-time caused by violent, energetic space phenomena, such as colliding black holes or neutron stars, or massive stars exploding as supernovae at the end of their lives.

Existing observatories like the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and the Virgo Interferometer are specially designed to detect the ripples caused by gravitational waves. Interferometers merge two or more light sources to create an interference pattern, which can be measured and analyzed. However, LIGO and Virgo can’t pinpoint the exact origin of gravitational waves or see the light emanating from colliding neutron stars or black holes.

That’s where BlackGEM is different. It can detect both gravitational waves and visible light from these events and use the information to determine the precise location of the wave source. Using visible light also means BlackGEM can obtain detailed observations of processes such as the formation of heavy elements like gold and platinum from these interstellar collisions.

More:
https://newatlas.com/space/trio-telescopes-southern-scan-sky-gravitational-waves/