Two new probable gravitational waves have been detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and the Virgo observatory in Italy in the first weeks after the detectors were updated.
Penn State recently invested in an upgrade to its portion of the data grid that will roughly quadruple the cluster’s capacity for conducting cutting-edge astronomy and astrophysics research.
On a morning last August, a text alert from the worldwide LIGO research collaboration heralded the discovery of a gravitational wave generated by the collision of two neutron stars. Penn State astronomer Chad Hanna describes how this event brought astronomy into the era of "talkies," with multiple channels including gamma, ultraviolet, and X rays each providing a different view of the story.
For the first time, three detectors have tracked the gravitational waves emitted by a merger of two black holes -- a critical new capability that allows scientists to more closely locate a gravitational wave's birthplace in space. Gravitational waves are ripples in space and time created when two massive, compact objects such as black holes merge.
In 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detected what Albert Einstein had predicted nearly 100 years earlier: gravitational waves.
This groundbreaking discovery opened the door to a new way of observing the universe and will be the topic of discussion when Open House Nights in Astronomy returns to Penn State Behrend on Thursday, Oct. 6.
The Institute for CyberScience and the Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos will host a free summer camp for local high school students to learn about detecting gravitational waves. The camp will run from July 19 to 21. Leading the camp will be Chad Hanna, assistant professor of physics. Earlier this year, Hanna made headlines for his role in the first-ever detection of gravitational waves.
Merging black holes ripple space and time in this artist's concept. For the first time, scientists announced in February 2016 that they observed ripples in the fabric of spacetime, called gravitational waves, arriving at Earth from a cataclysmic event in the distant universe. This observation, from a research team that includes Penn State scientists, confirms a major prediction of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, published in 1916, and opens an unprecedented new window onto the universe.
Chad Hanna, assistant professor of physics, will present "The Dawn of Gravitational Wave Astronomy" at 7:30 p.m. April 28 in 102 Thomas Building as part of the 2016 Friedman Lecture Series in Astronomy. The event is free and open to the public.
Penn Stater Chad Hanna saw a decade of his work come to fruition Thursday (Feb. 11) when the Laser Interferometric Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) Scientific Collaboration, in conjunction with the National Science Foundation, announced the discovery of gravitational waves. Hanna’s work focuses on detecting gravitational waves created when two binary neutron stars or black holes circle each other, getting closer and closer until they collide and merge. LIGO scientists announced Thursday that they have detected those waves for the first time, proving the final portion of Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.
