Telescope inaugurated to detect optical signals from gravitational waves
A state-of-the-art telescope for detecting optical signatures of gravitational waves, built and operated by an international research collaboration led by the University of Warwick (Warwick, England), was officially inaugurated at Warwick's astronomical observing facility in the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) on La Palma, Canary Islands, on 3 July 2017.
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The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO) is an autonomous, intelligent telescope that will search for unusual activity in the sky, following alerts from gravitational wave detectors such as the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), which recently secured the first direct detections of gravitational waves.
Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of space-time, created when massive bodies--particularly black holes and neutron stars--orbit each other and merge at very high speeds. These waves radiate through the Universe at the speed of light, and analyzing them heralds a new era in astrophysics, giving astronomers vital clues about the bodies from which they originated as well as long-awaited insight into the nature of gravity itself.
First predicted over a century ago by Albert Einstein, they have only been directly detected in the last two years, and astronomers' next challenge is to associate the signals from these waves with signatures in the electromagnetic spectrum, such as optical light. This is GOTO's precise aim: to locate optical signatures associated with the gravitational waves as quickly as possible, so that astronomers can study these sources with a variety of telescopes and satellites before they fade away.
GOTO is a significant project for the Monash-Warwick Alliance, through which the construction of the telescope was partially funded. Danny Steeghs, from Warwick's Astronomy and Astrophysics Group, is leading the project, and says, "After all the hard work put in by everyone, I am delighted to see the GOTO telescopes in operational mode at the Roque de los Muchachos observatory. We are all excited about the scientific opportunities it will provide."
GOTO is the latest addition to the University of Warwick’s astronomical facility at La Palma, which includes the SuperWASP Exoplanet discovery camera. GOTO is operated on behalf of a consortium of institutions including the University of Warwick, Monash University, the Armagh Observatory, Leicester and Sheffield Universities, and the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT).
La Palma is one of the world’s premier astronomical observing sites, owing to the fact that it is the steepest island in the world and has very little pollution, giving researchers clear views of the sky.
SOURCE: University of Warwick; http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/telescope_for_detecting/
Gail Overton | Senior Editor (2004-2020)
Gail has more than 30 years of engineering, marketing, product management, and editorial experience in the photonics and optical communications industry. Before joining the staff at Laser Focus World in 2004, she held many product management and product marketing roles in the fiber-optics industry, most notably at Hughes (El Segundo, CA), GTE Labs (Waltham, MA), Corning (Corning, NY), Photon Kinetics (Beaverton, OR), and Newport Corporation (Irvine, CA). During her marketing career, Gail published articles in WDM Solutions and Sensors magazine and traveled internationally to conduct product and sales training. Gail received her BS degree in physics, with an emphasis in optics, from San Diego State University in San Diego, CA in May 1986.