First observation of a Kilonova event

[Urwumpe]

Looks like the rumors before the Nobel Prize awards had been right: The gravity wave detectors picked up two merging neutron stars and observatories in the world confirmed it. The event took place in the Hydra constellation near NGC 4993.

There is a life stream on Youtube running right now to present the results worldwide:

The press release can be found here:

https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1733/

This is really the first observation of such an event and quite remarkable, since the observations also confirm theories about the nuclear processes inside neutron stars.

 

[Notebook]

16 October 2017
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has observed for the first time the source of a gravitational wave, created by the merger of two neutron stars. This merger created a kilonova – an object predicted by theory decades ago – that ejects heavy elements such as gold and platinum into space. This event also provides the strongest evidence yet that short duration gamma-ray bursts are caused by mergers of neutron stars. This discovery is the first glimpse of multi-messenger astronomy, bringing together both gravitational waves and electromagnetic radiation.

http://sci.esa.int/hubble/59672-hub...vitational-waves-for-the-first-time-heic1717/

 

[Linguofreak]

First glimpse of multi-messenger astronomy? What about the neutrino observations from SN1987a?

 

[Andy44]

Currently enjoying the smooth jazz of the live stream...

But fantastic science news, great times we live in.

 

[Marg]

I was at LIGO observatory in Washington state 4 days after - on August 21, 2017!
During tour nothing was said, but somehow it could be felt, that they know something

 

[Topper]

 

[RisingFury]

We now live in a time comparable to the moment when Galileo Galilei first turned his telescope to the moons of Jupiter and saw the universe in a way never before seen by human eyes.

He helped lay the foundation for the prosperity we enjoy today. What will we leave for our descendants?

 

[ADSWNJ]

He helped lay the foundation for the prosperity we enjoy today. What will we leave for our descendants?

We (humankind) have left them the means to detect warps in space-time. I mean ... it's a start, eh?