First direct gravitational-wave detection
First direct gravitational-wave detection
Overview
On 14 September 2015 the twin LIGO interferometers recorded GW150914, the gravitational-wave chirp of two black holes — roughly 36 and 29 solar masses — merging more than a billion light-years away. The signal matched numerical-relativity waveforms within the noise, delivering the first direct detection of gravitational waves and the first observation of a binary black hole. A century after Einstein's prediction, gravitational-wave astronomy had begun.
Related astronomers
1932–Rainer WeissDeveloped the laser-interferometer concept and noise analysis central to LIGO gravitational-wave detection.1940–Kip ThorneRelativistic astrophysics and gravitational-wave theory.1936–Barry BarishLed major organizational and technical development of LIGO into a large-scale gravitational-wave observatory.