Hauptinhalt

A New View of our Universe - Multimessenger Astronomy

Gemeinsames Kolloquium des Fachbereichs Physik und des SFB 1083

Veranstaltungsdaten

Link zur Videokonferenz

Abstract:

On 17 August 2017, the measurement of a gravitational wave triggered an unprecedented astronomical observing campaign. More than seventy observers worldwide started observing the region of the sky from which the gravitational wave came. For the first time, the simultaneous measurement of gravitational waves and electromagnetic signals made it possible to track the merger of two neutron stars. The analyses following the discovery show the enormous scientific power of combining multi-messenger information. The measurement of the neutron star merger is just one of several examples that show the potential of the new multi-messenger astronomy.

In September last year, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Free State of Saxony decided to establish the German Centre for Astrophysics in Lusatia as a result of the largest open science competition in Germany's history. An investment of this magnitude in basic science - that is remarkable. It shows not only the great fascination that astronomy and astrophysics hold, but also that they can provide important technological and innovative impulses in a very concrete way and enable sustainable structural change in Lusatia, a region in the centre of Europe.

What have we learned from measuring neutron star merger? What other examples of the new field of multi-messenger astronomy are there? And what role can the DZA play in this exciting field of research in the future? Christian Stegmann addresses these questions.

Christian Stegmann is Professor of Astroparticle Physics at the University of Potsdam, Director at the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY), Head of the DESY site in Zeuthen in Brandenburg and co-initiator of the German Centre for Astrophysics (DZA) in Lusatia.