The gravitational wave itself is the least exciting part of the announcement from LIGO and Virgo. Observing this new source answers many longstanding questions.
Artist’s illustration of two merging neutron stars.
National Science Foundation/LIGO/Sonoma State University/A. Simonnet.
The discovery of tiny ripples in space from the violent collision of dense stars could help solve many mysteries – including where the gold in our jewellery comes from.
Our understanding of gamma ray bursts (GRBs) – flashes of gamma rays from explosions in distant galaxies – since they were discovered more than 50 years ago may not be as solid as first thought. Research…
The origin of today’s burst of energy has astronomers puzzled.
AP Photographie /Flickr
A titanic eruption in our neighbouring galaxy, Andromeda, has sent shockwaves through the astronomical community here on Earth. NASA’s Swift satellite detected a flood of gamma rays at 21:15 UTC yesterday…
Artist’s composite of the CSIRO’s 64m Parkes Radio Telescope showing an extragalactic radio burst appearing briefly, far from the Milky Way’s disk.
CSIRO/Harvard/Swinburne Astronomy Productions
How many electrons are there in the universe? That may seem nigh on impossible to calculate – let alone comprehend – but the discovery of a new population of astrophysical events called Fast Radio Bursts…
Knowing where cosmic rays don’t come from brings scientists another step closer to determining their origin.
NSF/J. Yang
It’s been the defining question of high-energy astrophysics for the past century: where do cosmic rays come from? New findings from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole have brought us closer…
Ever since they were discovered accidentally in the 1960s, gamma ray bursts (GRBs) have continued to amaze and puzzle astronomers worldwide. In nearly 50 years of research there seem to have been more…