Gravitational waves formed when bulky objects such as black holes collide, creating ripples in space-time that are washed away Earth. Although current gravitational wave observatories such as Gravitational wave observatory laser interferometer (LIGO) and Virgo interferometer, can detect violent collisions that end in gravitational waves, these observatories can only see one of these events at a time, often months apart. But there may be another way to find gravitational waves: by looking for their fingerprints pulsarrotates quickly neutron stars pulsating at regular intervals. Now, researchers believe they have illuminated the path to this goal in a new study, thanks to NASA observations Fermi gamma ray space telescopewhich observes the universe in gamma rays, the most energetic form of light. “We are amazed at how good it is to find the types of pulsars we need to look for these gravitational waves – over 100 so far!” The study’s co-leader Matthew Kerr, a physicist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, told a statement. The pulsars rotate at very precise intervals, and scientists can track these distances from Earth thanks to the pulses emitted by the pulsars. As gravitational waves wash away a pulsar, they can discreetly change the time of these pulsars, and astrophysicists believe they can observe these subtle changes and thus detect the gravitational waves that created them. Traditionally, astronomers have found pulsars using radio telescopes to clear the sky of radio waves. But the gas and dust that fill the world are not kind to radio waves. many of them are absorbed along the way. Gamma rays, in contrast, are the highest energy of any wave at electromagnetic spectrum, which means they will pass. But until this new study, astrophysicists had never actually used gamma rays to track pulsars. The results may mean that there is a new, more powerful way to find pulsars and, in turn, gravitational wave detection, and researchers hope that future improvements will make these detection methods even more sensitive. The research is described in a paper published April 7 in the journal Science. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and up Facebook.
