Category Astronomy/Space

Gravitational wave scientists from The University of Western Australia have led the development of a new laser mode sensor with unprecedented precision that will be used to probe the interiors of neutron stars and test fundamental limits of general relativity.

Research Associate from UWA’s Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav-UWA) Dr. Aaron Jones said UWA coordinated a global collaboration of gravitational wave, metasurface and photonics experts to pioneer a new method to measure structures of light called “eigenmodes.”

“Gravitational wave detectors like LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA store enormous amount of optical power and several pairs of mirrors are used to increas...

A team o...

When we look out into space, all of the astrophysical objects that we see are embedded in magnetic fields. This is true not only in the neighborhood of stars and planets, but also in the deep space between galaxies and galactic clusters. These fields are weak—typically much weaker than those of a refrigerator magnet—but they are dynamically significant in the sense that they have profound effects on the dynamics of the universe. Despite decades of intense interest and research, the origin of these cosmic magnetic fields remains one of the most profound mysteries in cosmology.

In previous research, scientist...

A team of Uni...