{"id":6422,"date":"2023-06-08T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-08T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=6422"},"modified":"2023-05-28T16:20:28","modified_gmt":"2023-05-28T16:20:28","slug":"gravitational-wave-detector-ligo-is-back-online-after-3-years-of-upgrades-how-the-worlds-most-sensitive-yardstick-reveals-secrets-of-the-universe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/gravitational-wave-detector-ligo-is-back-online-after-3-years-of-upgrades-how-the-worlds-most-sensitive-yardstick-reveals-secrets-of-the-universe\/","title":{"rendered":"Gravitational wave detector LIGO is back online after 3 years of upgrades \u2013 how the world\u2019s most sensitive yardstick reveals secrets of the universe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n When two massive objects \u2013 like black holes or neutron stars \u2013 merge, they warp space and time.\n Mark Garlick\/Science Photo Library via Getty Images<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\nChad Hanna<\/a>, Penn State<\/a><\/em><\/span>\n\n

After a three-year hiatus, scientists in the U.S. have just turned on detectors capable of measuring gravitational waves<\/a> \u2013 tiny ripples in space itself that travel through the universe. <\/p>\n\n

Unlike light waves, gravitational waves are nearly unimpeded by the galaxies, stars, gas and dust<\/a> that fill the universe. This means that by measuring gravitational waves, astrophysicists like me<\/a> can peek directly into the heart of some of these most spectacular phenomena in the universe. <\/p>\n\n

Since 2020, the Laser Interferometric Gravitational-Wave Observatory \u2013 commonly known as LIGO<\/a> \u2013 has been sitting dormant while it underwent some exciting upgrades. These improvements will significantly boost the sensitivity<\/a> of LIGO and should allow the facility to observe more-distant objects that produce smaller ripples in spacetime<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

By detecting more events that create gravitational waves, there will be more opportunities for astronomers to also observe the light produced by those same events. Seeing an event through multiple channels of information<\/a>, an approach called multi-messenger astronomy<\/a>, provides astronomers rare and coveted opportunities<\/a> to learn about physics far beyond the realm of any laboratory testing.<\/p>\n\n

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\n According to Einstein\u2019s theory of general relativity, massive objects warp space around them.<\/span>\n vchal\/iStock via Getty Images<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n

Ripples in spacetime<\/h2>\n\n

According to Einstein\u2019s theory of general relativity<\/a>, mass and energy warp the shape of space and time. The bending of spacetime determines how objects move in relation to one another \u2013 what people experience as gravity. <\/p>\n\n

Gravitational waves are created when massive objects like black holes or neutron stars merge with one another, producing sudden, large changes in space. The process of space warping and flexing sends ripples across the universe like a wave across a still pond<\/a>. These waves travel out in all directions from a disturbance, minutely bending space as they do so and ever so slightly changing the distance between objects in their way. <\/p>\n\n

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