The Physics & Astronomy Colloquium Series presents Duncan Brown, Charles Brightman Endowed Professor of Physics of Syracuse University, on “Gravitational Waves: A New Frontier in 21st Century Astronomy” on Friday, Oct. 27, at 4:10 p.m. in Walter 245.
Duncan Brown
Abstract: On August 17, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) and the Virgo detector observed the ripples in space-time from a neutron star merger. Two second later, NASA’s Fermi Gamma Ray Burst Monitor detected a flash of gamma rays from the collision. LIGO and Virgo localized the source to a 30 square degree patch of the sky in the constellation Hydra and, twelve hours later, an optical counterpart was detected. I will discuss the detection of the neutron star merger and the optical kilonova, along with the implications that this multi-messenger observation has for our understanding of the universe.
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