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For its Next Trick, Gaia Could Help Detect Background Gravitational Waves in the Universe

Ripples in a pond can be captivating on a nice sunny day as can ripples in the very fabric of space, although the latter are a little harder to observe. Using the highly tuned Gaia probe, a team of astronomers propose that it might just be possible to detect gravitational waves through the disturbance they impart on the movement of asteroids in our Solar System! In the teaser I said that gravitational waves were difficult to observe, largely because they are invisible and incredibly fast, travelling at the speed of light (approximately 300,000 km per second).

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