|
Bringing light to a dark universe
 Most of the universe is dark. Due to current theories
there is much more matter in space than the small part we are
able to see. 99% are not observable with optical, radio-, X-ray
telescopes or other conventional methods of observation. Black
holes or dark matter emit no light or other kind of
electro-magnetic radiation. We know about their existence due to
gravitational interaction or indirect effects.
Gravitational wave astronomy is very promising. It could open a
wide field of view into space, because gravitational waves are a
different kind of waves: They are disturbances in spacetime.
This is different to traditional astronomy that is based on
the observation of electro-magnetic radiation or high energy
particles. Detecting gravitational waves is very challenging due
to their weak interaction with matter. On the other hand this is
also a big advantage. There might be a lot of gravitational waves from the
early universe shortly after the Big Bang that are almost
unaffected.
We know some sources of gravitational waves very well,
especially binary systems. Ground based detectors will just be
able to observe these binaries close to the merger, when they
inspiral. LISA on the other hand will be able to observe and
discover them years before their end. Apart from
these well known sources, gravitational waves are expected to be produced whenever large mass/energy is rapidly accelerated. For such events observation of gravitational wave radiation offers the possibility to learn about the
physical processes that created them and to understand them.
 LISA - Technical Challenge in Space (back to LISA main page)
|
