On the more exotic end of astronomy equipment lies
neutrino and gravity wave detectors.
Neutrinos are
a by-product of nuclear fusion at the cores of
stars. They are also released via
supernova. The
weakly interactive particles pass freely through
anything resulting in difficult detection. Detectors
comprise of tanks containing water or some other
chemical and is surrounded by photomultipliers.
These detectors lie deep underground to eliminate
any false readings by cosmic ray hits. While
neutrinos rarely
interact with other elements, they do occasionally
collide with another atom. These collisions can be
recorded by photomultipliers - which detect light
flashes resulting from the collision.
For a detailed look into
neutrinos, check out my
paper on
The Solar Neutrino Problem.
Gravity Wave Detection in astronomy is a new
field of study. As such, there are those scientists
who are skeptical that detecting gravity waves will
not be possible (and a few who do not believe
gravity waves exist).
Gravity waves were predicted
by
Albert Einstein as ripples in Space-Time
resulting a very massive object interacting with
another very massive object. A good example is a
binary pair of stellar remnants with both members being neutron
stars
(or pulsars).
By using ultra-sensitive
interferometers, it is the hope that gravity waves
can be detected. One group that is spearheading this
effort is the
Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory,
or LIGO. This website has just about any kind of
information one can dream of regarding gravity waves.
Other groups
involved in Gravity Wave research are:
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