10 Years Ago Today: Gravitational Waves (GW) Detected For The First Time
Hey, Space Placers!
LIGO HANFORD
CREDIT: GREG REDFERN
NOBEL PRIZE EMERITUS DR. RAINER WEISS (WATCH THE VIEDEO) AND I
CREDIT: WTOP
I have been fortunate to report and experience the people and places involved in GWs. Next year I plan on visiting Louisiana (LIGO Livingston).
Hard to believe that today it has been ten years since the first detection of gravitational waves (GW) at 5:51 a.m. EDT. Back then in 2015 it had been 100 years since Albert Einstein predicted GWs in his "Theory of General Relativity". Amazes me how he did so with just paper, pencil and his intellect.
How far we have come in those ten years.
We now have the technology in the form of multiple GW detection facilities across the globe that GW discoveries are a regular occurrence.
From U.S. National Science Foundation Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (NSF LIGO):
"Today, LIGO, which consists of detectors in both Hanford, Washington and Livingston, Louisiana, now routinely observes roughly one black hole merger every three days. LIGO now operates in coordination with two international partners, the Virgo gravitational-wave detector in Italy and KAGRA in Japan. Together, the gravitational-wave-hunting network, known as the LVK (LIGO, Virgo, KAGRA), has captured a total of about 300 black hole mergers, some of which are confirmed while others await further analysis. During the network's current science run, the fourth since the first run in 2015, the LVK has discovered more than 200 candidate black hole mergers, more than double the number caught in the first three runs."
We even have a "Top 10" GW list now.
Scientists are pushing the further advancement of our GW detection capabilities and by looking to put a space based detector - LISA - that would have a detection grid a million miles long formed by each of the three spacecraft and their lasers. LISA would enable a whole new realm of GW detection.
GWs can tell us much about the Universe, perhaps even the very beginning of it. I’ll keep you apprised.
Was it 15 or 10 years? Your title says 15 years, but the blog post says 10 years.
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