Sofia Cantú Sauceda Celebrate LIGO’s gravitational wave detection
Venisha Colón/THE RIDER
On Sept. 14, 2015, two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory encountered the first direct detection of gravitational waves and collision and merger of a pair of black holes after a century of the general theory being predicted by Albert Einstein, according to the National Science Foundation.
This year, LIGO’s detection hits a 10-year-old milestone of its discovery.
Faculty and staff from UTRGV and legacy institution University of Texas at Brownsville, now involved in the South Texas Space Science Institute, were part of the Nobel-prize-winning detection of gravitational waves in 2015, according to the institute’s website.
On Friday, the STSSI, along with the Center for Gravitational Wave Astronomy and the Center for Advanced Radio Astronomy, with support from the South Texas Astronomical Society, will host a Gravitational Wave Discovery Decennial celebration in Main Building Room 1.224 on the Brownsville campus.
Joseph Romano, director of the STSSI and a professor of physics and astronomy, said he hopes students attending the event can learn UTRGV was involved in a “groundbreaking discovery.”
“It’s a big collaboration consisting of many scientists across the world,” Romano said. “Students and faculty at UTB at the time and still now are part of this collaboration.”
Current UTRGV faculty involved in the discovery are: Teviet Creighton, research lead at STSSI; Mario Diaz, senior advisor at STSSI; Soumya Mohanty, physics and astronomy professor; Soma Mukherjee, physics and astronomy professor; Volker Quetschke, facilities lead at STSSI; Malik Rakhmanov, physics and astronomy associate professor; and Romano.
During the event, faculty, administrators and former students will lead panel discussions focused on the research and experience of the gravitational waves discovery.
Romano said he hopes the event will attract and get undergraduate and graduate students involved in the STSSI research program.
“Maybe two years from now, three years from now, they will write some important paper or they will make some discovery,” he said.
The 10-year celebration is open to students and faculty on both campuses.
Vikki Penix, program coordinator at STSSI, wrote in a Sept. 29 direct message to The Rider, Astronomy at the Park: The Sounds of the Cosmos will take place from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday at Resaca De La Palma, located at 1000 New Carmen Ave. in Brownsville.
There is also going to be a book presentation and signing open to the community during the event.
For more information, visit the Gravitational Wave Discovery Decennial Celebration website.
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