LIGO

Left to right: David Shoemaker, Rainer Weiss, Matthew Evans, Erotokritos Katsavounidis, Nergis Mavalvala, and Peter Fritschel.

Scientists make first direct detection of gravitational waves

LIGO signal reveals first observation of two massive black holes colliding, proves Einstein right.

February 11, 2016

The LIGO observatory has provided scientists with the first-ever direct detection of gravitational waves, ripples in the fabric of spacetime predicted in 1915 by physicist Albert Einstein. The waves originated from the merger of distant black holes, envisioned here in a computer simulation.

Gravitational waves detected 100 years after Einstein’s prediction

LIGO opens a new window on the universe with the observation of gravitational waves from colliding black holes.

February 11, 2016

Technicians, engineers, and scientists in Advanced LIGO’s Hanford, California, control room prepare for its first full-scale operational run.

Advanced LIGO set to begin science operations

The world's most sensitive gravitational-wave detector is scheduled to go online this week, after seven years of enhancement.

September 17, 2015

3Q: Getting ever closer to observing gravitational waves

Einstein’s theory of general relativity to be put through the paces as Advanced LIGO comes online.

May 19, 2015

Nergis Mavalvala stands in a lab looking at a small electronic device

Era of astronomical discovery

MIT professor Nergis Mavalvala helps build tools to detect gravitational waves.

July 7, 2014

MIT Professor of Physics Nergis Mavalvala PhD ’97 has won a MacArthur 'genius' grant.

Nergis Mavalvala wins MacArthur ‘genius’ grant

Physics professor and two alumni are awarded $500,000 in no-strings-attached funding.

September 28, 2010

Material accumulating on the pulsar surface can sometimes ignite, causing thermonuclear flashes that emit bursts of X-ray light. These thermonuclear flames spread across the surface of the pulsar in a few seconds. The team established that "burst oscillations", a kind of flickering, during these X-ray bursts provide a direct measure of the pulsar's spin rate.

Einstein's gravitational waves may set speed limit for pulsar spin

July 3, 2003

David Shoemaker, director of the LIGO Laboratory at the Center for Space Research, poses in the lab.

Gravity-wave search produces initial data

October 30, 2002

Artist's impression of the hottest tango in the universe--a torus formed from the debris of a star spins around a rotating black hole. The black hole leads the torus around, feeding it energy which the torus radiates away as unseen gravitational waves. At the same time, jets of energy are released along the black hole's axis of rotation and may later be detected by satellites as gamma-ray bursts.

Black hole/star tangos may explain cosmic explosions

February 27, 2002

An aerial view of the LIGO observatory in Hanford, WA.

LIGO project to provide a new window to the universe

March 29, 2000

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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