The gravitational wave observatory on the moon will make it possible to "hear" 70% of the universe

Today, all existing gravitational observatories are located on Earth. This is convenient when it comes to her

services, this alone creates somerestrictions associated, for example, with high levels of background noise. The LIGO and Virgo detectors operate by measuring the shift between mirrors caused by the passage of a gravitational wave. But the magnitude of the shift for mirrors that are kilometers apart is very small.

In order to solve the problem of background noise,scientists employ sophisticated techniques that separate true and false signals. However, the overall accuracy of the detectors is insufficient. The gravitational-wave observatory on the moon GLOC, which NASA proposes to build, could fundamentally solve the problem.

Theoretical observation range GLOC. Credit: Yani et al.

The moon has long been a favorite placeastronomers. Optical telescopes on it will not suffer from atmospheric blur. Also, unlike the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes, they will not be limited by the size of the launch vehicle. 

In reality, decades more will pass beforehumanity will have the technology to build such an object on the moon. But when this happens, astronomy will have a powerful tool that will expand our understanding of space. NASA is already studying the construction of a radio telescope on the far lunar surface. Building a lunar gravitational wave observatory would be significantly more difficult, but not impossible.

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