University of Glasgow celebrates 10th anniversary of first gravitational wave detection

Researchers from the University of Glasgow are celebrating the 10th anniversary of one of the 21st century’s key scientific achievements – the first direct detection of gravitational waves.

On 14 September 2015, a signal arrived on Earth from a pair of remote black holes that had spiralled together and merged. The signal had travelled for about 1.3 billion years to reach us at the speed of light—but it was not made of light.

It was a different kind of signal: a ripple in space-time called a gravitational wave, first predicted by Albert Einstein 100 years before. On that day 10 years ago, the twin detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) made the first-ever direct detection of gravitational waves, whispers in the cosmos that had gone unheard until that moment.

Glasgow scientists have been involved in gravitational research since the middle of the 20th century. Researchers from the University's Institute for Gravitational Research (IGR) played key roles in the development of the field, including the design and development of the Advanced LIGO detectors, developing the delicate mirror suspensions which make the detections possible by isolating them from external vibrations.

The University of Glasgow, changing the world since 1451.
https://www.gla.ac.uk/