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The New Era of Multimessenger Astronomy
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The New Era of Multimessenger Astronomy

Astronomers’ newfound ability to see the same cosmic events in light, particles and gravitational waves – a synthesis called multimessenger astronomy – gives them a fuller picture of some of the universe’s most mysterious phenomena

Ann Finkbeiner
Scientific American, 2018
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Think of an apple. In your mind, you can see its red color, feel its smooth surface, smell its sweet fragrance, take a bite and listen to its crunch. All the signals you perceive originate from the apple: visual, tactile, olfactory, gustatory and auditive. Combine all these senses, and you really know what an apple is. Now imagine you’re an astronomer. You’re no longer trying to understand a piece of fruit, but something far more mysterious, deep in the universe. You can look at this thing through a telescope, but light alone may not suffice to identify it. You need more information, and while you can’t necessarily smell, taste or touch this distant discovery, you can use other “messengers” – such as neutrinos or gravitational waves – coming from the same celestial source. Ann Finkbeiner explains this so-called “multimessenger astronomy” in a fascinating Scientific American article.

Take-Aways

  • Astronomers use different methods to detect “messengers” that reach Earth from the cosmos.
  • Multimessenger astronomy combines methods to observe light, particles and gravitational waves – originating from the same source – to better understand individual celestial events.
  • New multimessenger detectors are under construction that will complement existing ones on Earth and in space.

About the Author

Ann Finkbeiner is a science writer based in Baltimore. She specializes in writing about astronomy, cosmology, and the intersection of science and national security. Finkbeiner is co-founder and proud co-proprietor of a group science blog, The Last Word on Nothing.

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