However, we never before have had the important independent confirmation of the merger of two neutron stars that we now have obtained with this
new gravitational wave detection.
Dr Lucas Lombriser, of the University of Edinburgh's School of Physics and Astronomy, said: «Recent
direct gravitational wave detection has opened up a new observational window to our Universe.
Q: In addition to regular Breakthrough Prizes, you're awarding Special Breakthrough Prizes for big discoveries
like gravitational wave detection, plus awards for young researchers and middle and high school students.
The requirements of
gravitational wave detection as a whole are so extreme that the system designed around the laser improves its frequency and power stability by a factor of 100 million for the LIGO experiments.
Now, the LIGO Scientific Collaboration — which consists of over a thousand scientists around the world — has confirmed the
third gravitational wave detection («GW170104»), meaning we're at the cusp of a completely new kind of astronomy.
«This NSF - funded Physics Frontier Center is poised to complement LIGO observations, extending the window
of gravitational wave detection to very low frequencies.»
Indian astronomers have a long tradition of work in general relativity, gravitational waves, the development of algorithms
for gravitational wave detection, and also in the data analysis itself, notes Ajit Kembhavi, emeritus professor at IUCAA Pune and chair of the LIGO - India site - selection committee.
Another gravitational wave detection reaffirms the importance of waves for a vast spectrum of physical processes and technologies.
Just a week after the newly upgraded LIGO went online, popular (and unaffiliated) physicist Lawrence Krauss tweeted that he heard about
a gravitational wave detection.
Gravitational wave detection has likewise come on the scene, ready to pick up a slight shift in spacetime stirred up by the blast.
The research, led by doctoral candidate Oliver Elbert, was an attempt to interpret
the gravitational wave detections through the lens of what is known about galaxy formation and to form a framework for understanding future occurrences.
On August 17, LIGO sent alerts for
a gravitational wave detection from colliding neutron stars to observatories around the world, firing a «starter's pistol» in the race to spot the source of the space - time ripples.
A map of all
the gravitational wave detections so far are illustrated here — note that the area of the probable source of GW170814 (lower left) is much smaller than all the others.
Brian O'Reilly, one of the lead scientists at the Livingston location of
the gravitational wave detection facility known as LIGO, was just beginning his day.
As a result, some of the earliest observations of the first ever optical counterpart of
a gravitational wave detection source were taken using the LCO network!
While this may seem like overkill, the incredible sensitivity proved critical, since it was barely enough for the first ever
gravitational wave detection.