virgo

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  • Artist's depiction of orbiting black holes near a supermassive black hole

    Astronomers may have spotted light from colliding black holes

    by 
    Jon Fingas
    Jon Fingas
    06.28.2020

    Astronomers believe they've seen the first known light resulting from colliding black holes.

  • Karan Jani / Georgia Tech

    Astronomers just measured a whole lot more than gravitational waves

    by 
    Mallory Locklear
    Mallory Locklear
    10.16.2017

    A couple of weeks ago, the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) and Virgo teams announced the detection of another set of gravitational waves -- the fourth since LIGO's first detection in September of 2015. The observations of these ripples in spacetime are extraordinary in and of themselves, no matter how many times we record them. However, while the first three sets of gravitational waves recorded were by the two LIGO observatories, the fourth was also detected by a newly established third -- Virgo -- located in Italy. And having three detectors allows researchers to triangulate the source of those waves with extraordinary precision.

  • Virgo Collaboration

    Scientists record a fourth set of gravitational waves

    by 
    Mallory Locklear
    Mallory Locklear
    09.27.2017

    Last year, researchers confirmed the existence of gravitational waves with two Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors. Shortly thereafter, they detected two additional gravitational wave-causing events that sent ripples through the universe. Well, we can now add a fourth to that list, as astronomers announced another set of waves. And for the first time, they observed the waves with a third detector -- the Italy-based Virgo.