LIGO

[Christopher K.]

The Livingston division of LIGO is pictured on page 33 of the August 2010 Sky & Telescope in an article concerning the "Double Pulsar", J0737-3039. Discovered seven years ago in Canis Major, it's the only known instance of two active radio pulsars orbiting each other.

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is trying to detect "gravitational waves" and measure the waves. The second half of the operation is in Hanford, in Washington state.

Gravitational waves are theoretical disturbances in the fabric of space and time. The waves LIGO could detect would have to be produced by violent events like the collision of two black holes or shockwaves from the a supernova explosion. Albert Einstein predicted the existence of the waves in his General Theory of Relativity (1916). The waves have yet to be proven.

LIGO background at:
http://www.ligo.caltech.edu/LIGO_web/PR/scripts/facts.html

On the Double Pulsar:
http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2008/doublepulsar/

Discovering Facility Parkes Observatory:
http://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/

LIGO is funded by the National Science Foundation.