BlackGEM telescopes begin searching for gravitational wave sources at the European Meteorological Center’s La Silla Observatory

The BlackGEM array, which consists of three new telescopes located at the European Southern Center’s La Silla Observatory, has begun operations. Telescopes will scan the southern sky to track cosmic events that produce gravitational waves, such as the merger of neutron stars and black holes.

Some catastrophic event in the universe, such as a collision black holes Or neutron stars, they create gravitational waves, ripples in the structure of space-time. Observatories such as the Laser Interferometer Observatory (LIGO) and the Virgo Interferometer are designed to detect these ripples.

But they cannot pinpoint their origin very accurately, nor see the fleeting light produced by the collisions between them Neutron stars and black holes. BlackGEM is dedicated to rapidly scanning large regions of the sky to precisely track the sources of gravitational waves using visible light.

With BlackGEM we aim to broaden the scope of study cosmic events “With both gravitational waves and visible light. The combination of the two tells us a lot more about these events than one event or the other,” says Paul Grote of Radboud University in the Netherlands, the project’s principal investigator.

By detecting both gravitational waves and their visible counterparts, astronomers can confirm the nature of gravitational wave sources and pinpoint their exact locations. The use of visible light also allows for detailed observations of the processes that occur in these mergers, such as the formation of heavy elements such as gold and platinum.

To date, only one visible analogue of a gravitational wave source has been detected. Furthermore, even the most advanced gravitational wave detectors like LIGO or Virgo cannot accurately pinpoint their sources; At best, they can narrow the location of the source down to an area of ​​roughly 400 full moons in the sky. BlackGEM will efficiently scan such large areas with an accuracy high enough to consistently determine location gravitational wave sources using visible light.

The three component BlackGEM telescopes are built by a consortium of universities: Radboud University, the Netherlands Research School of Astronomy, and KU Leuven in Belgium. Both telescopes are 65 cm in diameter and can examine different regions of the sky simultaneously; The collaboration ultimately aims to expand the array to 15 telescopes, improving scanning coverage even further. BlackGEM is hosted at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, making it the first collection of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

Although a modest 65 cm primary mirror“We’re going as deep as some of the large mirror projects, because we’re taking full advantage of the excellent observational conditions at La Silla,” Grote says.

Once BlackGEM has accurately identified the source of the gravitational waves, larger telescopes such as the ESO Very Large Telescope or the future ESO Very Large Telescope can make detailed follow-up observations, which will help shed light on some of the most extreme events in the universe.

In addition to his research on the visual counterparts of gravitational wavesBlackGEM will also conduct surveys on southern sky. Its operations are fully automated, which means that the array can quickly find and monitor “transient” astronomical events, which appear suddenly and quickly fade from view. This will give astronomers a deeper insight into short-lived astronomical phenomena such as supernovae, huge explosions that mark the end of a massive star’s life.

“Thanks to BlackGEM, La Silla now has the potential to become a major contributor to transient research,” says Ivo Savian, site manager at ESO’s La Silla Observatory. “We expect to see many outstanding results contributed by this project, which will expand the site’s reach to both the scientific community and the public at large.”