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Astronomy has always relied on light to convey information about the universe. But capturing photons — such as those from visible light or radio waves — is no longer the only technique scientists have for studying astronomical phenomena. Neutrinos, cosmic rays and gravitational waves are also “messengers” that carry information about the universe to humans on Earth.
Multi-messenger astronomy aims to combine information from two or more of those phenomena to provide a deeper understanding of some of the most extreme events in the universe, such as stellar explosions and actively feeding black holes.
Jointly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory will soon contribute to this emerging field by using its powerful camera and wide field of view to find many faint and previously undetected multi-messenger sources. Once pinpointed in the sky, other telescopes can target those sources for follow-up observations.