The China-made FAST Sky Eye Telescope, the world’s largest and most sensitive radio astronomy telescope, continues to make groundbreaking discoveries in the field of astronomy. Recently, a team of Chinese pulsar timing array researchers, consisting of scientists from the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other institutions, used Sky Eye FAST to detect evidence of strong nano-hertz gravitational waves. This remarkable achievement shows that China’s research in this field is at par with international standards and has even reached a leading position.
The findings were published in China’s prestigious astronomy journal, “Research Astronomy and Astrophysics,” on June 29. The research team analyzed a 3 year and 5 month data set, collected by Sky Eye FAST, and managed to identify key evidence supporting the existence of nano hertz gravitational waves at the 4.6 sigma confidence level. A high confidence level indicates a false positive rate of less than 1 in 500,000.
Nano hertz gravitational waves are a type of gravitational waves characterized by a very low frequency of 10 to the power of minus 9 Hz. Detecting these waves poses a significant challenge due to their extremely low frequency, long periods lasting several years, and wavelengths spanning several light years.
Gravitational waves, as predicted by Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, are ripples in spacetime caused by the acceleration of objects with mass. Parallel to throwing a stone into a pond and observing the ripples it produces on the surface, these waves propagate outward from the source of mass.
Their weak interaction with matter during propagation makes them ideal carriers of valuable information from the depths of the Universe. Gravitational wave astronomy, a field of observational astronomy, focuses on using gravitational waves to gather information about violent astronomical events such as binary star systems consisting of white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes. Supernovas and Big Bangs also serve as sources for these cosmic disturbances.
2023-06-30 01:36:23
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