LIGO, High Gear Science Run |
LIGO, High Gear Science Run |
Mar 3 2006, 03:05 PM
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#1
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Member Group: Members Posts: 624 Joined: 10-August 05 Member No.: 460 |
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=19142
QUOTE ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- The quest to detect and study gravitational waves with the NSF-funded Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is now in the fourth month of its first sustained science run since achieving its promised design sensitivity, project personnel announced at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). ... Now that the LIGO is sensitive enough to detect changes in distance a mere thousandth the diameter of a proton, Marx adds, the science return should be even greater. Recent results from the Swift satellite pinpointing the location of short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have also heightened astronomers' interest in the results from LIGO's current observational run. That level of sensitivity is, in my opinion, the most incredible technical achievement since the VLA. The very long gamma ray associated with supernova/hypernova 1996aj should also be of great interest. |
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Apr 4 2006, 09:31 AM
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#2
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1870 Joined: 20-February 05 Member No.: 174 |
LIGO can potentially detect 1) predicted types of sources and 2) unpredicted types of sources. It cannot detect some types of sources that are predicted to have most of their energy at wavelengths much longer, frequencies much lower, than it's high frequency sensativity range.
The proposed LISA space-interferometer gravity wave mission would search for much lower frequency sources and is predicted to observe many to the point of having considerable confusion sorting out things like white-dwarf binaries and cosmic backgrounds. The problem with LIGO, Mark 1, is it's sensativity is so low that the PREDICTED frequency of detectable events of PREDICTED type, the classic being binary-neutron star "in-spirals", is considerably lower than 1 per year. So they're searching down in the noise level for barely detectible, if at all, events. We COULD get locky... and have a predicted type of source do it's thing so close there's an obvious signature well above the noise...but don't count on it. We COULD get luckier, and have predicted type of events happen much more often or have unpredicted types of events happen often enough and close enough they also stick out above the nose. Again... don't count on it. LIGO, Mark 2... The second generation detector system, is intended to have high enough sensativity so that there are multiple events per year that are clearly detected. |
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