A NEW DISCOVERY

Scientists have managed to observe with a telescope and "listen" with gravitational waves the same source: in particular, a fusion event of neutron stars located in a "close" galaxy, at 130 million light years. More than 70 terrestrial and space astronomical observatories and more than 3,500 scientists from around the globe have observed this fusion of the gravitational waves that have been captured. This has led to many discoveries related to very varied aspects, such as the behaviour of matter, the generation of heavy atoms in space, the origin of the gamma rays, or the rate of expansion of the space, Universe. This is until now one of the most watched astrophysical events and opens a new era in astronomy that will be submerged in the mysteries of the Universe over the next decades. All of them are summarized in a collection of eight articles published in Physical Review Letters and Nature, and that will give rise to dozens more in the coming weeks, months and years.

Nuria and Anna