Gravitation & Multi-Messenger
Astronomy beyond light — the bending of light by gravity, the direct detection of gravitational waves and cosmic neutrinos, and the combined multi-messenger view of the most violent events.
In brief
Gravitational lensing, waves, and multi-messenger astronomy.
Techniques in this category
- Gravitational LensingTechniqueMeasures: Mass, including dark matter
Gravity bends light, so massive foreground objects magnify and distort background ones — strongly, into arcs and multiple images, or weakly, subtly shearing distant galaxies. Lensing weighs matter directly, mapping dark matter that emits no light.
- Gravitational-Wave DetectionTechniqueMeasures: Ripples in spacetime
Detecting the minute stretching and squeezing of space as gravitational waves pass, using kilometre-scale laser interferometers. Since 2015, detectors have heard the mergers of black holes and neutron stars, opening a new sense for astronomy.
- Multi-Messenger AstronomyTechniqueMeasures: Events seen in several channels
Combining light, gravitational waves, neutrinos, and cosmic rays from the same event to learn what no single messenger could tell. The 2017 neutron-star merger, seen in gravitational waves and across the spectrum, was its landmark.
- Neutrino AstronomyTechniqueMeasures: Cosmic neutrinos
Catching the ghostly neutrinos that stream from the Sun, from supernovae, and from the most energetic events in the universe. Neutrinos pass through matter almost untouched, carrying information from places light cannot escape.
Knowledge connections
- Group includesGravitational Lensing
- Group includesGravitational-Wave Detection
- Group includesNeutrino Astronomy
- Group includesMulti-Messenger Astronomy
Sources
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.