Scientists Observe Gravitational Waves for First Time Using Collaboration of 70 Telescopes Worldwide
Qian Tongxin
DATE:  Oct 19 2017
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Scientists Observe Gravitational Waves for First Time Using Collaboration of 70 Telescopes Worldwide Scientists Observe Gravitational Waves for First Time Using Collaboration of 70 Telescopes Worldwide

(Yicai Global) Oct. 19 -- China's Purple Mountain Observatory, under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, held a joint press briefing with the American National Science Foundation (NSF), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), and several other astronomy institutions on Oct. 16 to announce the first ever observation of a gravitational wave phenomenon, which was caused by the collision of two neutron stars.

"We have detected gravitational waves. We did it," said David Reitze, executive director at the US-based Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO).

China's Antarctic Skylight Telescope AST3 team also observed optical signals of the gravitational waves at the Kunlun observatory in Antarctica, around 24 hours after the gravitational wave's first detection.

Observatories have worked independently of each other in the past, says Wang Lifan, a researcher at the Purple Mountain Observatory and the head of the Chinese Antarctic Skylight Telescope team. This time, however, many observatories across the world joined forces in preparation for the gravitational wave observation, and it has become a global scientific project. 

The discovery was a collaborative effort of some 70 ground and space telescopes including LIGO, Europe's Virgo interferometer gravitational wave detector and China's Purple Mountain Observatory.

The LIGO joint research group at Tsinghua University's Information Technology Research Institute was the only Chinese team that participated in the observation. It was established in 2009 and has taken part in all efforts for gravitational wave detection made since.

The group has developed algorithms and software and optimized their performance in real-time gravitational wave data processing and multi-messenger astronomy studies over the past couple of years, said Cao Junwei and Fan Xilong from the Information Technology Research Institute and Du Zhihui from the computer department of Tsinghua University.

"What we did is only a tiny part of the work performed by the gravitational wave research team, which has more than 1,000 members." Cao added. "The National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Independent Research Program at Tsinghua University provided funding for our studies."

The LIGO group at the university has been actively involved in joint international studies on gravitational waves in recent years, and it has participated in global discussions about the development of the third-generational gravitational wave detector in close collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, University of Western Australia and the University of Glasgow, he said.

The next operation of the gravitational wave detector will come in August next year, at which time scientists will have upgraded its equipment so that its sensitivity will improve eight-fold, Cao added.

"In the past, we could only detect signals several times each year, but in the future, we'll be able to observe the signals several times every month or every day," he added. "It will generate huge amounts of data, and it will put our data processing capacity to the test."

Some of the findings obtained during the observation of gravitational waves have not been released, and they will be confirmed and published one by one in future, Cao said.

Three Chinese astronomical observation facilities, the Antarctic Skylight Telescope, the Huiyan astronomy satellite and the Purple Mountain Observatory, participated in the observation efforts.

The Antarctic Skylight Telescope AST3 team started to receive substantial quantities of data at 9.00 p.m. on Aug. 18, and subsequently detected optical signals of gravitational waves.

"We were about to end the observation session because the horizon was very low and we'd lost the best viewing angle, but we still captured optical signals generated by gravitational waves, and the data we provided was very useful," said Wang Lifan.

"Astronomers used to work in solitude, there was no collaboration. Now we have a project that involves thousands of people. It is very important for modern astronomical studies," he added.

The Skylight telescope can observe a diverse range of objects and phenomena, and the priority this year is to observe terrestrial planets beyond the solar system, but operations are still in the research stage, Wang continued.

It was the first time that people in different parts of the world have detected the same astrophysical event using different gravitational wave observatories and telescopes. This has profound and far-reaching implications.

"Scientists found electromagnetic counterparts as they expected, and it marks the beginning of multi-messenger astronomy. We're extremely lucky to be here today, but it's just the start," said Shen Zhiqiang, deputy director of Shanghai Observatory.

Multi-messenger astronomy refers to astronomy utilizing coordinated observation efforts and joint interpretation of disparate messenger signals, such as electromagnetic radiation, gravitational waves, neutrinos and cosmic rays.

"Scientists all around the globe are now feasting gravitational wave observation," said Sarah Antier, a member of the Virgo joint research organization and France's Linear Accelerator Laboratory in Orsay.

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Keywords:   Scientific Research,Gravitational Waves,Purple Mountain Observatory,Astronomy