UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State LIGO physicists are members of the LIGO-Virgo collaboration to detect and characterize gravitational waves. The collaboration now is completing a second observing run that is drawing to a close on Aug. 25.
The Virgo and LIGO Scientific Collaborations have been searching for gravitational-wave signals since Nov. 30, 2016.
In the second Advanced Detector Observing Run ‘O2,’ both LIGO and Virgo instruments have been operating together since Aug. 1, 2017.
The collaboration has issued the following statement: "Some promising gravitational-wave candidates have been identified by both LIGO and Virgo during our preliminary analysis, and we have shared what we currently know with observing partners using telescopes, gamma-ray detectors, and neutrino detectors. We are working hard to assure that the candidates are valid gravitational-wave events, and it will require time to establish the level of confidence needed to bring any results to the scientific community and the greater public. We will let you know when we have information ready to share."
Read about LIGO's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd detections of gravitational waves.