How do gravitational waves affect the mirrors of LIGO and how do we detect these effects?

When a gravitational wave passes by Earth, it squeezes and stretches space. LIGO can detect this squeezing and stretching. A passing gravitational wave causes the length of the arms to change slightly. The observatory uses lasers, mirrors, and extremely sensitive instruments to detect these tiny changes.

What is LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves?

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a large-scale physics experiment and observatory designed to detect cosmic gravitational waves and to develop gravitational-wave observations as an astronomical tool.

What might happen if two gravitational waves interfere?

Weak gravitational waves are just like light or sound: they temporally “interfere” and pass through each-other unaffected. However, if the waves are strong they will “pull” on each-other, since the waves contain energy (which is mass). In the extreme case this would make a black hole.

When did LIGO detect gravitational waves?

September 14, 2015
All of this changed on September 14, 2015, when LIGO physically sensed the undulations in spacetime caused by gravitational waves generated by two colliding black holes 1.3 billion light-years away. LIGO’s discovery will go down in history as one of humanity’s greatest scientific achievements.

What did the LIGO experiment recently discover?

LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Finds Elusive Mergers of Black Holes with Neutron Stars. For the first time, researchers have confirmed the detection of a collision between a black hole and a neutron star. In fact, the scientists detected not one but two such events occurring just 10 days apart in January 2020.

When did LIGO first detect gravitational waves?

When was the first gravitational-wave detected by LIGO?

14 September 2015
The first direct observation of gravitational waves was made on 14 September 2015 and was announced by the LIGO and Virgo collaborations on 11 February 2016.

How does gravity affect frequency?

1) Gravity does indeed affect light. All light in the presence of a gravitational source either “bends” or shifts its frequency, but unless the gravitational field is extremely strong it’s difficult or impossible to detect with the naked eye.

Does gravity affect the speed of light?

Answer: The short answer is no, the speed of light is unchanged by gravity. If for example light travels from a distant star to Earth and passes by a black hole, the path of the light will get bent as it passes by the black hole, which will lengthen its travel time. The actual speed of light, though, is unchanged.

How does gravity affect gravitational waves?

If gravitational waves experience gravity, that means that gravitons don’t just interact with the energy-carrying particles of the Standard Model, but there is a graviton-graviton interaction as well. Two different gravitational waves, in Einstein’s relativity, should interfere when they meet.

What are the effects of gravitational waves?

As a gravitational wave passes an observer, that observer will find spacetime distorted by the effects of strain. Distances between objects increase and decrease rhythmically as the wave passes, at a frequency equal to that of the wave.

How do astronomers investigate the Dark Ages?

To investigate the dark ages, one avenue scientists are pursuing involves hunting for the earliest stars and galaxies. Since it takes light time to travel, light that came from far away also must have come from long ago. As such, astronomers look deep in space to peer back in time.

What was the universe like before the Dark Ages?

Before the dark ages of the universe, the cosmos was so hot that all the atoms that existed were split into positively charged nuclei and negatively charged electrons. These electrically charged ions blocked all light from traveling freely. Approximately 400,000 years after the Big Bang, the universe cooled down enough for these ions

How far back can we see the early universe?

This can make distant objects very dim (or invisible) at visible wavelengths of light, because that light reaches us as infrared light. Webb will be able to see back to about 100 million – 250 million years after the Big Bang. But why do we need to see infrared light to understand the early universe?

What are the secrets of the Dark Ages?

Secrets of the dark ages To investigate the dark ages, one avenue scientists are pursuing involves hunting for the earliest stars and galaxies. Since it takes light time to travel, light that came from far away also must have come from long ago. As such, astronomers look deep in space to peer back in time.

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