The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO), led by the University of Warwick and built in Spain's La Palma island, is expected to bring forth a new era of gravitational wave (GW) science.
The GOTO project consists of multiple wide-field telescopes on a single mount, which allows it to map large source regions in the sky to detect gravitational waves, and learn about their cause: the collisions of dead suns, scientifically known as neutron stars.
The crashes between these types of stars are thought to be the origin of most of the heavy metals in the universe including gold and platinum, billions of years ago. With the new addition to the telescope, scientists are expected to be able to witness this process and observe stars "being smashed together and observe the rich material that comes out of this explosion," said Professor Danny Steeghs, of Warwick University.
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