Te whakamatara i ngā ngaru tō ā-papa me te wetewete i ngā tohu mai i te Ao Tukupū
I tēnei kaupapa o te Tohu Kaunihera Pūtea a Marsden, ka arahina e Ahorangi Renate Meyer o Waipapa Taumata Rau tētahi rōpū nō ngā whare wāhanga maha ka tuku i ngā takoha nui ki te pūtaiao ngaru tō ā-papa me te takawaenga i te whai wāhitanga o ngā tohunga pūtaiao o Aotearoa i roto i te whakatakanga LISA o tāwāhi
Published on 3 Whiringa-ā-rangi November 2021
I matapaetia ngā ngaru tō ā-papa – ko ngā riporipo i te wā-ātea nā te whakahohoro i ngā ahanoa nunui – e te ariā a whaiahu arowhānui a Einstein i te tau 1916, engari nō te tau 2015 i inea tōtikatia. Nā ngā ngaru tūrama kua whānui te kite i te Ao Tukupū tae noa ki te 400,000 tau ki mua i muri i te Pahū Nui, ka tuku mōhiohio ngā ngaru tō ā-papa ki a tātau tae noa ki tētahi hautanga hēkona i muri i te Pahū Nui. Nā tēnei kitenga tuatahitanga whakaharahara kua tīmata i tētahi hurihanga hou o te tātai arorangi. Kia āta wetewete ai i ēnei tohu ngaru tō ā-papa ngoikore mai i te tangi o ngā taputapu, he mea nui kia āta mōhio ki te tangi mā te whakamahi i ngā tikanga tatauranga.
Schematic illustration of gravitational wave production immediately prior to a black hole merger. Image: Caltech
Kei te hangaia he whakatakanga ‘Laser Interferometer Space Antenna’ (LISA) hou e te European Space Agency, ā, ko te whāinga kia whakarewa hei te tau 2034. Ka inea e LISA ngā ngaru tō ā-papa auau pāpaku, e whakarato ana i ngā tūru paemua ki ngā hanumitanga o ngā rua pango me ngā whetū iramoe, i roto i ngā ahanoa aupiki i te Ao Tukupū. Ka arahina e Ahorangi Meyer tētahi rōpū pūkenga-maha nui e whakatōpū ana i ngā pūkenga o te pāngarau, pūtaiao rorohiko, te ahupūngao taketake me ngā tikanga mahi tatauranga rerekē hei takoha matua ki te pūtaiao ngaru tō ā-papa me te takawaenga i te whai wāhitanga atu ki te whakatakanga LISA. Ka tirotiro te rōpū ki ngā whakapātari tatauranga ka pā mai ina whakamātau ana ki te tango i ngā tohu ngaru tō ā-papa mai i ngā raraunga taketake me ngā āhuatanga o ngā puna hira o ngā ngaru tō ā-papa.
LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) is a space-based gravitational wave detector that will consist of three identical spacecraft in a triangular configuration, with sides of approximately 2.5 million kilometres. Image: ESA
Ko te whāinga a te rōpū he whakaemi kaha mō te mahi tahi i roto i te tekau tau me ngā rōpū o tāwāhi i tētahi o ngā umanga pūtaiao whakaongaonga rawa atu o te ao. Mā te whai i tēnei ka āwhina i a rātau ki te whakatutuki i te pūmanawa nohopuku o ngā whare kōkōrangi hei kōkiri whakamua i te mātauranga tātari arorangi, ahupūngao kōkōrangi whetū, me te ahupūngao korakora taketake.