Massive flashes of energy known as ‘fast radio bursts’ have puzzled astronomers for years – and a new search for links to gravitational waves has so far found no connection.
Black holes and other massive objects create ripples in spacetime when they merge.
Victor de Schwanburg/Science Photo Library via Getty Images
By timing radio pulses from an array of galactic pulsars, scientists see hints of gravitational waves from supermassive black hole pairs in a breakthrough that may reveal hidden details of galaxy evolution.
When two massive objects – like black holes or neutron stars – merge, they warp space and time.
Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library via Getty Images
For years, astronomers have been detecting incredibly powerful pulses from the cosmos, without a confirmed source. Recent advances in astronomy are getting us closer to the solution.
VFTS 243 is a binary system of a large, hot blue star and a black hole orbiting each other, as seen in this animation.
ESO/L.Calçada
Astronomers have discovered the first dormant black hole outside of the Milky Way. These black holes are not absorbing matter from a nearby star, making them incredibly hard to find.
The Hubble Space Telescope was born from a previous decadal survey. What leaps forward will come from this one?
NASA Johnson/Flickr
The astronomy and astrophysics decadal survey for the 2020s lays out plans to search for life on distant planets, understand the formation of galaxies and solve deep mysteries of physics.
Concept of a black hole acting as a lens on background light.
Dotted Yeti/Shutterstock
Gravitational waves reveal the demise of super-dense neutron stars spiralling into their black hole companions - the first time such strange and exotic star systems have ever been observed.
A small add-on to existing gravitational wave detectors could reveal what happens to matter as it becomes a black hole, a process like the big bang in reverse.
The 2020 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science have recognised momentous achievements in astrophysics, sustainability innovation, epigenetics and primary and secondary teaching excellence.
Artist impression of merging black holes.
Mark Myers, ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav)
The signal came in on ANZAC Day, ripples in space-time from the merger of two neutron stars an estimated 500-million light years away. But where it happened is still a mystery.
Ripples in space-time caused by massive events such this artist rendition of a pair of merging neutron stars.
Carl Knox, OzGrav
More ripples in space-time have been detected from merging pairs of black holes, one of which was the most massive and distant gravitational-wave source ever observed.
Visible light image of the radio galaxy Hercules A obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope superposed with a radio image taken by the Very Large Array of radio telescopes in New Mexico, USA.
NASA
Astronomers are now able to detect a host of signals streaming through the universe. This newfound ability is like gaining new senses and it’s opening the door to understanding the cosmos.