{"id":52129,"date":"2017-10-16T09:00:18","date_gmt":"2017-10-16T14:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?p=52129"},"modified":"2017-10-16T16:39:27","modified_gmt":"2017-10-16T21:39:27","slug":"uwm-physicists-play-key-roles-first-ever-observations-explosive-neutron-star-collision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/uwm-physicists-play-key-roles-first-ever-observations-explosive-neutron-star-collision\/","title":{"rendered":"UWM physicists play key roles in first-ever observations of explosive neutron star collision"},"content":{"rendered":"

MILWAUKEE _ Scientists at LIGO, Virgo and astronomical observatories around the world announced today the discovery and observations of the collision of two neutron stars.<\/p>\n

These are the first observations of a cosmic event in both gravitational waves and the more familiar electromagnetic wavelengths (visible, infrared and ultraviolet light, radio waves, gamma rays, etc.).<\/p>\n

UW-Milwaukee members of the LIGO\/Virgo Collaboration were instrumental in detecting the signal from the LIGO detectors and analyzing the gravitational waves from the collision. In addition, UW-Milwaukee astronomers who are not members of the LIGO team played a major role in the discovery and making observations in the electromagnetic radiation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs exciting as first discovery of gravitational waves was, this event shows the great promise of LIGO, in terms of both broadening and deepening our understanding of the universe,\u201d said Patrick Brady, director the Leonard E. Parker Center for Gravitation, Cosmology and Astrophysics and a member of the LIGO team at UWM. \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled about the science we at LIGO will be able to do, but also excited by the discoveries made possible for our colleagues working in the electromagnetic spectrum.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Aug. 17, a LIGO scientist noticed that the computer had flagged an interesting signal that had the character of a collision between orbiting neutron stars, but it came from only one of the two LIGO detectors. Normally such a detection requires both detectors, but the scientist noticed that NASA\u2019s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope also detected a burst of gamma rays at the same time. These signals were unlikely to be coincidences, and LIGO soon found the signal in the second LIGO detector. Having the Virgo detector in Italy made it possible to determine the location of the event with relatively high precision.<\/p>\n

The gravitational scientists notified their astronomical colleagues who, using a new catalogue of relatively nearby galaxies, found the explosion only 10 hours after it happened in NGC 4993, a galaxy about 130 million light-years away in the constellation Hydra. The identification allowed observations of the event in a wide array of wavelengths, employing traditional optical observatories, radio telescopes and satellites. All told, hundreds of astronomers around the world, using telescopes on all seven continents and in space, followed this event frantically as the source disappeared into twilight. And UWM was right there in the middle of it.<\/p>\n

Scientifically, the observations promise to:<\/p>\n