According to the BBC, a brand new telescope has recently been built, and one of its challenging responsibilities will be to detect neutron stars in the process of crashing into one another. The observatory is known as the Gravitational Wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO), and it may be found on the island of La Palma, which is located off the coast of Spain.
Utilizing extremely accurate detections to their full potential
According to Professor Danny Steeghs of Warwick University, who spoke to the BBC on the topic, “When a really good detection comes along, it’s all hands on deck to make the most of it.”
“It is critical that you move quickly. We are looking for something that won’t stick around for very long because there isn’t much time left before they disappear.”
The innovative device consists of two jet-black batteries of eight cylindrical telescopes that are connected. Each of these telescopes may cover a different portion of the sky by swiftly twisting and spinning in both the vertical and horizontal planes.
Neutron stars, even though they are legally considered to be dead, are among the most bizarre and dynamic phenomena in the universe.
They are made up of lifeless suns that have amassed such a tremendous amount of mass and gravity that they are attracted to one another. As a consequence of this, they will eventually collide with one another, becoming one entity.
When this takes place, the suns emit a gravitational wave that causes space to become warped. This phenomenon is what the new telescope detects and concentrates its attention on to catch the collision of the sun.
However, despite having a wide variety of sophisticated tools at their disposal, scientists continue to have difficulty accomplishing this goal.
According to Dr. Joe Lyman, an associate professor of astrophysics, “You would expect that these explosions are very intense, very brilliant, and it should be easy.” However, to find the one thing that we are interested in, we are going to have to scan through one hundred million stars.
Because the thing will be gone in less than 72 hours, we have to move very quickly to complete this task.
Attempting to obtain information and pictures from more potent tools
After they have found a possible source of collisions, they turn to additional, more sophisticated technologies to photograph the source of the collision and obtain meaningful data from it. These resources are dispersed over the world, and each of them can provide its own unique set of benefits.
“At this point, we have given up hope of uncovering any fresh information. Instead, we are being told where to find them, and we are going to be able to piece together what it is that is out there in the universe, piece by piece “Dr. Kendall Ackley, who works as an instrumentation scientist for GOTO, stated.
These recent discoveries might make previously unattainable knowledge about the origins of our universe and the conditions that led to the emergence of life on Earth available. While analyzing the data obtained from the VLA Sky Survey just one month ago, scientists found what is believed to be one of the youngest neutron stars ever identified (VLASS).
Now, they are waiting for follow-up observations that will allow them to study the very early development and behavior of the neutron star. This will provide them with fresh insight into the evolution of dying stars and the heavenly objects that surround them.