UK scientists develop new gravitational wave telescope

A team of scientists in the UK has developed a new telescope to track down sources of gravitational waves for the first time.

The new telescope, named the Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO), is made up of two identical arrays deployed on opposite sides of the planet -- one on La Palma in the Canary Islands, and the other in Australia.

It will scour space for optical clues about the violent cosmic events that create ripples, or waves, in the fabric of space itself, said the team from the universities of Warwick and Sheffield.

Long hypothesised as a by-product of the collision and merger of cosmic behemoths such as neutron stars and black holes, gravitational waves were finally detected directly by LIGO (Laser Interferometry Gravitational-wave Observatory) in 2015.

Since 2015, there have been many subsequent detections but, since observatories like LIGO can only measure the effects of the gravitational wave as it passes through our local patch of space time, it can be difficult to track down the source's point of origin.

GOTO is designed to fill this observational gap by searching for optical signals in the electromagnetic spectrum that might indicate the source of the gravitational waves (GW) - quickly locating the source and using that information to direct a fleet of telescopes, satellites and instruments at it, the team noted.