An international research team has combined radio telescopes from five continents on 12 March 2018 to prove the existence of a narrow stream of material, a so-called jet, emerging from the only gravitational wave event involving two neutron stars observed so far. The research leading to these results has received funding from RadioNet under the Transnational Access programme.
„Within Europe we utilize the RadioNet consortium for an efficient use of our members’ radio telescopes. The observations described here combine radio observatories all over Europe and worldwide. They require quite a bit of effort in coordination and infrastructure for achieving such excellent results”, explains J. Anton Zensus, director at MPIfR and the coordinator of the RadioNet consortium.
Original Paper G. Ghirlanda, et al., Science, 21 February 2019 (DOI: 10.1126/science.aau8815)
IMAGE © Artist’s impression of the jet of material launched after the merger of the two neutron stars; Katharina Immer (JIV-ERIC)