Violent origins of gravitational waves probed by new telescope array

The BlackGEM array, consisting of three new telescopes at the European Southern Observatory’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, has begun operations. This photograph shows the three open domes of the BlackGEM telescopes, with three other telescopes at La Silla visible in the background.

A new telescope array has begun to hunt for the most violent and cataclysmic events in the cosmos, clashes so powerful that they cause the very fabric of space and time to "ring."

The BlackGEM array, consisting of three new telescopes located at the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) La Silla Observatory in Chile, will search in visible light for events like neutron star collisions and black hole mergers, which launch ripples in space-time called gravitational waves.