China announces new gravitational wave observation

Wu Xuefeng, a scientist of the Purple Mountain Observatory, speaks at a press conference at the observatory in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Oct. 16, 2017. Chinese scientists on Monday announced observation of the"optical counterpart" of gravitational waves coming from the merger of two binary neutron stars using a survey telescope in Antarctica. The gravitational waves were first discovered by the U.S.-based Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors on Aug. 17. The Chinese telescope independently observed optical signals resulting from the merger the next day, according to the Chinese Center for Antarctic Astronomy. It was the first time humans have detected gravitational waves and the corresponding electromagnetic phenomena resulting from a binary neutron star merger. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)