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LIGO May Have Detected Merging Neutron Stars For The First Time
LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory made physics history by managing to detect the previously elusive gravitational waves predicted by Einstein's Theory of General Relativity for the first time. They have, since they began operation, thrice observed the gravitational wave signatures emitted by the mergers of what are believed to be massive binary black hole systems. However, there is no confirmation of these events beyond the gravitational wave detection since black hole mergers may not emit anything else besides the gravitational waves. However, the merger of two neutron stars such as what is predicted to eventually happen to the Hulse–Taylor binary [wikipedia.org] (which provided the first indirect confirmation of gravitational waves in the 1970s) will not only produce copious gravitational waves but possibly also a gamma ray burst or some other associated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The gravitational waves emitted by such an event would be weaker and harder for LIGO to detect, but on August 18th, noted astrophysicist J. Craig Wheeler tweeted [twitter.com] a tantalising hint that they might actually have seen just such a thing happen:
New LIGO. Source with optical counterpart. Blow your sox off!
New Scientist reports [newscientist.com] that LIGO spokesperson David Shoemaker has not denied the rumour, and it seemed that four days after Wheeler's tweet the Hubble Space Telescope had been observing a neutron star binary candidate in the galaxy NGC 4993, which has since been deleted. From the article:
LIGO spokesperson David Shoemaker dodged confirming or denying the rumours, saying only “A very exciting O2 Observing run is drawing to a close August 25. We look forward to posting a top-level update at that time.”
Speculation is focused on NGC 4993, a galaxy about 130 million light years away in the Hydra constellation. Within it, a pair of neutron stars are entwined in a deadly dance. While astronomers are staying silent on whether they are engaged in optical follow-ups to a potential gravitational wave detection, last night the Hubble Space Telescope turned its focus to a binary neutron star merger within the galaxy. A publicly available image of this merger was later deleted.
Further coverage and commentary from astrophysicist Ethan Siegel at Starts With A Bang [forbes.com].
