Where is the IceCube Neutrino Observatory? IceCube, the South Pole neutrino observatory, is a cubic-kilometer particle detector made of Antarctic ice and located near the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. It is buried beneath the surface, extending to a depth of about...
Is LIGO still operating? Following two years of upgrades, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is almost ready for its next operating run, which is set to begin in March 2023. How many LIGO are there in the world? A Nation-Wide...
What is gravity waves? Gravity waves or Gravitational waves are ripples in space-time fabric, generated by accelerated masses. In simple words, the presence of mass will result in a gravitational force. Do gravity waves exist? In 2015, scientists detected gravitational waves...
How were gravitational waves first discovered? In 2015, scientists detected gravitational waves for the very first time. They used a very sensitive instrument called LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory). These first gravitational waves happened when two black holes crashed into one...
How does LIGO work to detect gravitational waves? LIGO currently consists of two interferometers, each with two 4 km (2.5 mile) long arms arranged in the shape of an “L”. These instruments act as ‘antennae’ to detect gravitational waves. Did LIGO...
What is gravitational wave explain? “Gravitational waves are ripples in spacetime. When objects move, the curvature of spacetime changes and these changes move outwards (like ripples on a pond) as gravitational waves. A gravitational wave is a stretch and squash of...
How do gravity waves affect us? From even the distance of the nearest star, gravitational waves would pass through us almost completely unnoticed. Although these ripples in spacetime carry more energy than any other cataclysmic event, the interactions are so weak...
Is gravity faster than light speed? Does gravity travel faster than the speed of light? No, it doesn’t appear to. Why do gravity waves travel at the speed of light? Gravitational waves, like any form of radiation, have zero rest mass...
What is the strain amplitude of a gravitational wave? Gravitational waves are not easily detectable. When they reach the Earth, they have a small amplitude with strain approximately 10−21, meaning that an extremely sensitive detector is needed, and that other sources...
How do you find the frequency of a gravitational wave? The frequency of the gravitational wave signal will be twice the orbital frequency. That is, the observed frequency of the signal is ν=2ω2π=ωπ. You can use these equations to estimate the...