MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) -- West Virginia University researchers are making their mark in a growing field focused on studying a phenomenon known as gravitational waves.

Similar to electromagnetic waves -- like microwave, X-ray and radio -- gravity also creates waves at different frequencies. Scientists have only been able to study these waves over the last several years, but they could have practical applications after the phenomenon becomes more understood.

Emmanuel Fonseca, an Assistant Professor of Astronomy at WVU, is already working to broaden our understanding of gravitational waves by combining data from two separate telescopes: The CHIME telescope (Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment) and the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). Observation time at the GBT is always in high demand, but CHIME makes observations continuously, allowing Fonseca to fill in the gaps when the GBT is unavailable.

"Combining the data means we can achieve full coverage of each wave. We can 'see' from one trough, over the peak, and down to the next trough," Fonseca said.

According to Fonseca, one way to detect gravitational waves is by using pulsars. Pulsars are extremely dense, dead stars, that rotate at high speeds, emitting flashes of radiation like cosmic lighthouses.

"We use pulsars as detectors, lighthouses in the distance," Fonseca said. "When we see correlated deviations affecting timing in an array of pulsars, that's a sign of gravitational waves affecting the Earth. The deviations happen because gravitational radiation has passed through us, shrinking and squeezing our observatory and instruments."

12 News spoke to Fonseca about his research, which is part of a larger scientific collaboration known as NANOGrav, or the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves. NANOGrav is dedicated to learning more about gravitational waves, a field of science that remains largely unexplored today.

"NANOGrav really does represent one of the more important frontiers in modern science. Not just astronomy, but physics in general," Fonseca said in an interview. "When we think about the historical aspects of what happened when people were making sense of electromagnetic waves, X-rays, radio, et cetera -- we're kind of at that starting point in the early phase so to speak, but in gravitational wave science."

"It really is a new window into the universe. I mean, when you think of electromagnetic waves, you think of X-rays, radio, optical lights with our eyes. But gravitational waves, which have a similar kind of spectrum so to speak, that's uncharted territory."

To learn more about Fonseca's research, you can read the full press release about his work here.