Read the Beforeitsnews.com story here. Advertise at Before It's News here.
Profile image
By Alton Parrish (Reporter)
Contributor profile | More stories
Story Views
Now:
Last hour:
Last 24 hours:
Total:

Seeking A Cosmic Ripple: Listening For Gravity Waves In Sounds Of The Universe

% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.


Prof. Tsvi Piran from The Hebrew University discovered a method that could assist the effort to find  gravitational waves.  Einstein wrote about them, and we’re still looking for them — gravitational waves, which are small ripples in the fabric of space-time, that  many consider to be  the sounds of our universe.

 
Just as sound complements vision in our daily life, gravitational waves will complement our view of the universe taken by standard telescopes. 
A simulation of matter ejected from a star mergers

Credit: Hebrew University

Albert Einstein predicted gravitational waves in 1918. Today, almost 100 years later, advanced gravitational wave detectors are being constructed in the US, Europe, Japan and Australia to search for them. While any motion produces gravitational waves, a signal loud enough to be detected requires the motion of huge masses at extreme velocities. The prime candidate sources are mergers of two neutron stars: two bodies, each with a mass comparable to the mass of our sun, spiraling around each other and merging at a velocity close to the speed of light.

Such events are rare, and take place once per hundreds of thousands of years per galaxy. Hence, to detect a signal within our lifetime the detectors must be sensitive enough to detect signals out to distances of a billion light years away from Earth. This poses an immense technological challenge. At such distances, the gravitational waves signal would sound like a faint knock on our door when a TV set is turned on and a phone rings at the same time.

Competing noise sources are numerous, ranging from seismic noise produce by tiny quakes or even a distant ocean wave. How can we know that we have detected a gravitational wave from space rather than a falling tree or a rambling truck?

Therefore, astronomers have been looking for years for a potential electromagnetic light signal that would accompany or follow the gravitational waves. This signal would allow us to “look through the peephole” after hearing the faint knock on the door, and verify that indeed “someone” is there. In their new article just published in Nature, Prof. Tsvi Piran, Schwarzmann University Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Dr. Ehud Nakar from Tel Aviv University describe having found just that.

They noticed that surrounding interstellar material would slow debris ejected at velocities close to the speed of light during the merger two neutron stars. Heat generated during this process would be radiated away as radio waves. The resulting strong radio flare would last a few months and would be detectable with current radio telescopes from a billion light years away.

Search after such a radio signal would certainly take place following a future detection, or even a tentative detection of gravitational waves. However, even before the advanced gravitational wave detectors become operational, as expected in 2015, radio astronomers are geared to looking for these unique flares.

Nakar and Piran point out in their article that an unidentified radio transient observed in 1987 by Bower et al., has all the characteristics of such a radio flare and may in fact have been the first direct detection of a neutron star binary merger in this way.

Dr. Nakar’s research was supported by an International Reintegration Grant from the European Union and a grant from the Israeli Science Foundation and an Alon Fellowship. Prof. Piran’s research was supported by an Advanced European Research Council grant and by the High Energy Astrophysics Center of the Israeli Science Foundation.

Downloadable File: gravitational.waves.doc

Contacts and sources:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem


Read more at Nano Patents and Innovations


Source:


Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world.

Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.

"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.

Please Help Support BeforeitsNews by trying our Natural Health Products below!


Order by Phone at 888-809-8385 or online at https://mitocopper.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomic.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomics.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST


Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals Complex - Nature's most important supplement! Vivid Dreams again!

HNEX HydroNano EXtracellular Water - Improve immune system health and reduce inflammation.

Ultimate Clinical Potency Curcumin - Natural pain relief, reduce inflammation and so much more.

MitoCopper - Bioavailable Copper destroys pathogens and gives you more energy. (See Blood Video)

Oxy Powder - Natural Colon Cleanser!  Cleans out toxic buildup with oxygen!

Nascent Iodine - Promotes detoxification, mental focus and thyroid health.

Smart Meter Cover -  Reduces Smart Meter radiation by 96%! (See Video).

Report abuse

    Comments

    Your Comments
    Question   Razz  Sad   Evil  Exclaim  Smile  Redface  Biggrin  Surprised  Eek   Confused   Cool  LOL   Mad   Twisted  Rolleyes   Wink  Idea  Arrow  Neutral  Cry   Mr. Green

    MOST RECENT
    Load more ...

    SignUp

    Login

    Newsletter

    Email this story
    Email this story

    If you really want to ban this commenter, please write down the reason:

    If you really want to disable all recommended stories, click on OK button. After that, you will be redirect to your options page.