The peculiar galaxy Centaurus A (NGC 5128) is pictured in this image taken with the Wide Field Imager attached to the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. With a total exposure time of more than 50 hours this is probably the deepest view of this peculiar and spectacular object every created. (Credit: ESO)
A European Astronomical Observatory is Announcing an Unprecedented Discovery
by Jolene Creighton
According to an announcement from the ESO, scientists working at the observatory have witnessed an astronomical phenomenon that has never been seen before. The details of this discovery will be released next week.
[dropcap]M[/dropcap]oments ago, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) announced that they made a revolutionary discovery, one that they will be unveiling to the world on Monday (October 16th). According to the media advisory released today by the ESO, scientists have observed an astronomical phenomenon that has never been witnessed before.
Beyond that, no information is available regarding this most recent announcement.
The last time that astronomers unveiled a groundbreaking discovery of this nature was when scientists working at LIGO (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) detected gravitational waves. Ultimately, the find ushered us into a new era in astronomy, allowing us to see the universe as never before.
To clarify, before this detection, we were only able to perceive the cosmos through observations of electromagnetic radiation—through gamma rays, x-rays, visible light, and so on. Thanks to the LIGO discovery, we can now observe the very ripples of spacetime itself.
Remarkably, the waves were even powerful enough to break the Internet, bringing down both the LIGO and American Physical Society websites.
Of course, there are a number of mysteries that scientists have yet to explain in relation the origins and evolution of the cosmos. As such, it is difficult to pin down the specific nature of this observation—perhaps scientists finally observed dark energy, the mysterious force that is thought to make up approximately 73 percent of the universe, or perhaps it is a discovery that scientists never before fathomed. Stay tuned.
Last week, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) teased news of an ” unprecedented discovery.” Now, the organization has revealed that, for the first time ever, astronomers have observed both gravitational waves and light produced by the same event.