space feat opens new window
Last Updated : GMT 09:40:38
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Last Updated : GMT 09:40:38
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

Onto Universe

Space feat opens 'new window'

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicleSpace feat opens 'new window'

View of the Milky Way
Paris - Arab Today

A ground-breaking physics mission has opened up space as the next frontier for exploring a ubiquitous, invisible force predicted by Albert Einstein a century ago, project leaders said Tuesday.

A demonstration probe dubbed LISA Pathfinder was launched by Europe last December on the first stage of a decades-long mission to observe gravitational waves from space.

Pathfinder was designed to test technologies to be fitted into a massive space lab, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), sketched for launch in 18 years' time.

Announcing early results, delighted scientists said Pathfinder's performance raised hopes that LISA will contribute to proving core predictions of Einstein's theory.

"We now know that we have sufficient sensitivity to observe them (gravitational waves) from space," Fabio Favata of the European Space Agency's science directorate told journalists by webcast from Madrid.

"A new window to the Universe has been opened."

In his General Theory of Relativity, Einstein theorised in 1916 that space and time are interwoven into a fourth dimension called space-time. 

He predicted the acceleration of objects with mass would warp space-time and create ripples known as gravitational waves.

Theoretically, the strongest waves would be caused by the most cataclysmic processes in the Universe -- black holes coalescing, massive stars exploding, or the very birth of the Universe some 13.8 billion years ago.

- Ready for the marathon -

Gravitational waves do not interact with matter, and thus travel through the Universe unimpeded. 

They are so small -- less than the radius of an atom -- as to be almost undetectible.

In February, scientists using Earth-based instruments announced they had detected a gravitational wave for the first time ever.

The US-based Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observator (LIGO) caught a glimpse of a space-time ripple emitted by the merging of two black holes some 1.3 billion years ago.

Now, European scientists hope to be able to equal and improve on this feat, using the advantage of space.

With LISA, its free-floating detectors stretched out over millions of kilometres in space, the team hopes to observe waves from black holes "which are millions of solar masses," project scientist Paul McNamara told AFP. 

Ground-based experiments, with limited lab space and less stability because of Earth vibrations, can measure objects only about one to 10 times the mass of our Sun.

The study of gravitational waves opens exciting new avenues in astronomy, allowing measurements of faraway stars, galaxies and black holes based on the waves they make.

Indirectly, it builds on the evidence that black holes -- never directly observed -- do actually exist.

"With gravitational wave astronomy coming into full bloom with space-based detectors, we will be able to study merging black holes, which are such a fundamental part... of the evolution of our Universe," said Favata.

The ESA said Pathfinder, a free-floating, demo detector enclosed in a satellite some 1.5 million kilometres (930,000 miles) from Earth, surpassed its scientific objective.

It was meant to show it could pick up motion changes representing gravitational waves at the picometre level -- a millionth of a millionth of a metre.

Even better, "we were able to see femtometre motions" -- at the scale of a quadrillionth of a metre -- "really, really small motions," said project member Martin Hewitson of the University of Hanover.

With the demo project, "we have not only learnt to walk, but actually to jog pretty well," added Favata.

"So now we are ready for the marathon, we are ready to jump and to do the big race."

The main wave-detecting project was provisionally set for launch in 2034.

"But with the wonderful results of Pathfinder, maybe that can be advanced, we don't know yet," said McNamara.

Source: AFP

themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

space feat opens new window space feat opens new window

 



Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

GMT 06:40 2017 Saturday ,16 December

Walker needs brains not just brawn

GMT 08:15 2017 Thursday ,07 September

US oil giant ExxonMobil plans Cyprus gas exploration

GMT 18:11 2011 Monday ,18 April

Zimbabwe and Zambia in tug of war over Vic Falls

GMT 16:05 2017 Tuesday ,31 October

Qadih calls for involving private sector

GMT 09:20 2017 Wednesday ,15 November

Qualcomm spurns $130 bn Broadcom bid for big tech tie-up

GMT 13:43 2017 Tuesday ,24 October

Stabbed Russian journalist 'in recovery'

GMT 10:26 2017 Friday ,14 April

Sock topples Haas to reach ATP Houston quarters

GMT 14:00 2017 Saturday ,25 November

Sudan condemns terrorist attack in Egypt

GMT 09:40 2017 Monday ,04 December

Stade down Racing, Clermont edge plucky Agen

GMT 08:08 2017 Thursday ,05 October

Injury jinx strikes again as Iordache exits

GMT 11:20 2017 Tuesday ,05 December

Prodigal son: Saleh Saudi overture tips Yemen balance

GMT 09:35 2013 Saturday ,31 August

Afghan suicide attack kills 6, hurts 20 in south

GMT 23:36 2016 Sunday ,11 December

Suicide attack in Istanbul claims 29 lives

GMT 18:29 2013 Sunday ,10 November

Samsung\'s Galaxy Note 3 top 5m

GMT 14:52 2013 Sunday ,24 November

Computer game opponents begin to think, feel alike
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
 
 Themuslimchronicle Facebook,themuslimchronicle facebook  Themuslimchronicle Twitter,themuslimchronicle twitter Themuslimchronicle Rss,themuslimchronicle rss  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©

muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle