India’s largest radio telescope plays vital role in detecting universe’s vibrations

Source: The post is based on the following articles:

–  “India slips to 40th spot in world competitiveness ranking” published in The Hindu on 30th June 2023

– “Indian telescope & astronomers help global team hear ‘humming of gravitational waves”  published in TOI on 30th June 2023

What is the News?

India’s Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope(GMRT) was among the world’s six large telescopes that played a key role in providing evidence confirming the presence of gravitational waves.

What is the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope(GMRT)?

GMRT is a low-frequency radio telescope that helps investigate various radio astrophysical problems ranging from nearby solar systems to the edge of the observable universe.

Located at: Pune, Maharashtra

Operated by: National Centre for Radio Astrophysics(NCRA), a part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.

What are Gravitational waves?

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How did the researchers confirm the presence of gravitational waves?

An international team of astronomers were able to detect the low-frequency ripples created by the gravitational waves for the first time after years of research.

These ripples were observed using the world’s largest radio telescopes including India’s Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope(GMRT).

These telescopes studied signals from dead stars which are known as pulsars.

Pulsars are also known as cosmic clocks.They are rapidly spinning neutron stars that send out radio signals at regular intervals which are seen as bright flashes from the Earth.

As these signals are accurately timed, there is a great interest in studying these pulsars and to unravel the mysteries of the Universe.

Researchers while observing signals from pulsars found that some signals arrive early while others, with a slight delay (less than a millionth of a second).

These nano-hertz signals were heard as humming from the Universe.Researchers said that this was caused due to the presence of gravitational waves and due to signal irregularities emerging from pulsars.

Why is this discovery significant?

The discovery is a significant breakthrough in understanding the gravitational wave spectrum and it has opened a new window of exploration in astrophysics. It has also deepened the understanding of the Universe and is a great example of the power of international collaboration.