ESO telescopes have observed both light and gravitational waves from the same event, the merger of two neutron stars. One observatory detected gravitational waves passing the Earth while two others detected a short gamma-ray burst two seconds later. ESO then launched an observing campaign which lead to around 70 observatories across the world observing the event. Gravitational waves are ripples in spacetime created by rapid changes in the speed of massive objects. The near simultaneous detection of gravitational waves and gamma rays raised hopes that the source of the event in question was a never before observed kilonova.
Key Takeaways:
- The first visible counterpart to a gravitational wave was detected in Chile by ESO’s fleet of telescopes.
- The telescope saw what can only be described as the merging of two neutron stars in the sky.
- This event is evidence that short duration gamma ray bursts are caused by the merging of neutron stars.
“About 70 observatories around the world also observed the event, including the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.”
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