2023-07-03 07:21:40
GUYYANG, July 3 (Xinhua) — China’s FAST telescope has detected key evidence of nanohertz gravitational waves, which is important in studying problems in contemporary astrophysics such as supermassive black holes, the history of galaxy mergers, and the formation of large-scale structures in the universe. . The results of the research, conducted by scientists from the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other institutes, were published in the online journal “Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics” last Thursday. Nanohertz gravitational waves help understand the formation of the structures of the universe and investigate the growth, evolution and merger of the most massive celestial bodies in the universe, i.e. supermassive black holes, according to scientists. The scientists observed 57 pulsars with a rotation period of a few milliseconds in a regular rhythm for 41 months and found key evidence of quadruple correlation signals consistent with prediction of nanohertz gravitational waves with a statistical confidence level of 4.6 sigma (with a margin of error of two in a million). Li Kejia, a researcher at the astronomical observatories and a professor at Peking University, said observing nanohertz gravitational waves is a great challenge because of their extremely low frequency, long cycles, and wavelengths of up to several light-years. To date, long-term temporal observation of pulsars of a few milliseconds with a very regular rotation is the only known effective method for observing nanohertz gravitational waves. The FAST telescope is located in a deep and round natural karstic depression in southwest China’s Guizhou Province. It went into official operation in January 2020. It is believed to be the most sensitive radio telescope in the world.
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