Space detectors help scientists hear the intergalactic collision

What could be more amazing by discovering that something never known before became one of the greatest discoveries in the history of physics, even certified with a prediction. Albert Einstein's 100 years ago.

Discovery changes history

On Tuesday, at a press conference at the European Astronomical Research Center, scientists announced that they were one step closer to building a giant detector in space. called the Las Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) , it is possible to detect ripples in the structure of space , also known as gravitational waves.

It is likely that you have heard a lot of news about LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational - Wave Observatory, understandably a kind of machine that can observe and detect gravitational waves ) that has changed the history of the entire research industry. pillar in space when it first discovered gravitational waves in September last year.

While LIGO is able to detect what is produced by collisions of planets and black holes, LISA is able to detect gravitational waves when the entire galaxy system collides . This gives us a clearer view of the formation and evolution of the galaxy.

LISA has the ability to detect attractive waves when the whole galaxy system collides.

New research on the universe in a zero gravity environment can show us the whole scene of the Big Bang.

NASA scientist Charles Dunn commented: "It's like opening a whole new door."

Oliver Jenrich, ESA's chief project scientist also said: "Suddenly, we know something that we have not had any evidence of its existence so far."

This project is a collaboration of many organizations, including the European Space Research Agency (ESA) and NASA.

A symphony for the universe

What we can see with light accounts for only 0.4% of the universe. The rest of the universe is invisible. We only know it exists because it creates gravity.

Gravity is still a very mysterious force in physics. But thanks to historical findings in September, we learned that cosmic collisions will generate gravitational waves. Thereby, the mysterious veil gradually revealed.

This can be explained through a very simple example:

When you throw pebbles into a calm lake, it creates ripples on the surface, spreads around, and becomes increasingly faded as the gravel goes further and sinks into the water. .

These are waves, or ripples, that scientists are trying to detect in space. Doing so will allow us to hear, in a way, 99.6% of the universe that we can never see.

In a way, 99.6% of the universe we can never see.

Have you tried imagining you straying in a forest without hearing any sound?

"If there is no sound, you will never know in the forest where life is ," said Professor Stefano Vitale, who led the interview with Business Insider: "When you hear the sound. sound, you can feel its origin - what you are looking for is hidden deep in the old forest ".

"Gravity waves, like a symphony of the universe, help us feel what we can't see with the naked eye."

Play with

LIGO is a big breakthrough that helps us detect small collisions near the solar system. But what about the bigger things, such as the collision of giant black holes, millions of times larger than the sun in the galaxy?

That's when LISA worked. To be able to detect things like this, any detection system that scientists are using must be completely unaffected by any large to small seismic, such as the Earth, truck or even noise emitted from pedestrian footsteps.

LIGO is a big breakthrough that helps us detect small collisions near the solar system.

To avoid this, NASA's vein will be fitted with a series of gold-platinum cubes covering an area of ​​only 4.6 square centimeters, launching into the universe to get closer to a location. has the perfect "play" feeling and is not affected by any sound other than the difference in gravity.

Up to this point, the results have exceeded the expectations of all

"People still think that what we are trying to do is vain," said Paul McNamara, project leader of LISA in an interview with Business Insiders. "Despite all that suspicion, on the first day of operation it was successful. What we have achieved is beyond what is expected. '

The LISA project will consist of three spacecraft standing in three sides of a triangle whose distance between them is a million miles apart. Each ship will carry two tiny cubes, the distance between them will be measured by how long it takes for a laser light to travel from one ship to another.

When gravitational waves pass through it, the triangular shape of these three ships will change, an angle that will be shortened and an angle that will be longer, roughly equal to the shape of an atomic explosion. And this "small" change will be studied and measured by scientists.

"The results show that these activities release more gravitational waves than all the planet and the planet in the universe combined , " said project leader McNamara. shake the universe. And we will be able to do some measurements about that. '