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LIGO Scientific Collaboration
@ligo.org
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Official account of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. We detect gravitational waves!

Email: [email protected]
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LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · Aug 26
Results from the first part of our fourth LIGO @egovirgo.bsky.social KAGRA observing run are out today!

We're pleased to share the largest catalog of gravitational-wave observations with more discoveries of black holes and neutron stars

📰 arxiv.org/abs/2508.18082

🔭🧪⚛️☄️ #GWTC4
New masses in the stellar graveyard plot, showing astronomical observations of black holes and neutron stars. The number of gravitational-wave observations of black holes is overwhelming. The plot is arranged to look nice, the horizontal axis has no meaning, but the vertical one shows masses. We have a significant range of masses from about 1 solar mass to over 200 solar masses for our largest merger remnant. New out today is a neutron star black hole binary GW230518_125908, as well as a lot of binary black holes.
Reposted by LIGO Scientific Collaboration
lisacommunity.bsky.social
On this day, for #LPF10anniversary: following the successful separation from the launch vehicle, the mission operations team at ESOC undertook one of the most complex Launch and Early Operations Phases (LEOP) ever undertaken or an ESA mission.

Watch it here 📽️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=maKX...
LISA Pathfinder’s journey to L1
YouTube video by European Space Agency, ESA
www.youtube.com
December 12, 2025 at 3:50 PM
ligo.org
"Taking care of plants is my way to do hands-on science every day and remember that science is actually part of the real world, it doesn't just exist on your computer."

Find out more about Amanda at #HumansOfLIGO: humansofligo.blogspot.com/2025/12/aman...

🧪🔭
A headshot of Amanda smiling in front of a wood panelled wall. Amanda has long dark curly hair with pink highlights, light skin, and is wearing a white blouse with black flowers on it.
December 13, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by LIGO Scientific Collaboration
jorgepullin.bsky.social
We completed our setup and used it to characterize the photodiodes (red arrow) to be used in the suspension. @LIGO Livingston
December 4, 2025 at 3:21 PM
ligo.org
Happy anniversary!
December 4, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Reposted by LIGO Scientific Collaboration
lisacommunity.bsky.social
From LISA Pathfinder to LISA: Celebrating 10 years of LPF launch 🛰💛

"A fantastic mission. Everybody who worked with LPF felt in love with the mission."
- Stefano Vitale, LPF PI
December 4, 2025 at 1:30 PM
ligo.org
2015 was a good year for gravitational-wave astronomy

🔭🧪🛰️ #LPF10anniversary #GW10Years
lisacommunity.bsky.social LISA Community @lisacommunity.bsky.social · Dec 3
Relive the Moment: LISA Pathfinder has launched! 🚀🛰️
At 04:04UTC on the 3rd December, LISA Pathfinder successfully launched on top of a VEGA launcher.
The rockets first three stages burned for ~7minutes, followed by a nine minute burn for the rockets upper stage.

www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...
LISA Pathfinder launch - Part 1
www.esa.int
December 4, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Reposted by LIGO Scientific Collaboration
lisacommunity.bsky.social
It's been 10 years since our dear LISA Pathfinder (LPF) launched! For the ones who don't know much about it, here's a quick refresher about your favorite mission's precursor 🛰️💛

#LPF10anniversary #LISAMission
December 3, 2025 at 1:39 PM
ligo.org
The 2025 winner of the LIGO Laboratory Award for Excellence in Detector Characterization & Calibration is Dr. Jane Glanzer in recognizition of critical and timely contributions to both calibration and detector characterization for the fourth observing run

www.ligo.caltech.edu/WA/news/ligo...
Dr. Jane Glanzer smiling.
December 1, 2025 at 4:59 PM
ligo.org
Catch up on our #GWTC4 results with the recording of our webinar introducing our latest gravitational-wave catalog release and the associated data (papers arxiv.org/abs/2508.18080 and arxiv.org/abs/2508.18079)

youtu.be/fFKD-6parxY?...

🧪☄️🔭⚛️
GWTC 4.0 Introduction and Data Release
YouTube video by LIGO Virgo KAGRA
youtu.be
November 25, 2025 at 12:41 PM
ligo.org
Spinning into the merging binary black hole family tree

astrobites.org/2025/11/21/g... by
@neevshah101.bsky.social

@astrobites.bsky.social report on the potential implications of our discovery of #GW241011 and #GW241110

🔭☄️🧪⚛️
Not Their First Rodeo: Gravitational Wave Detectors Spot Merging Black Holes That Have Merged Before
The gravitational wave events GW241011 and GW241110 provide strong evidence for the growth of black holes through successive mergers.
aasnova.org
November 24, 2025 at 5:22 PM
ligo.org
Our recent low-significance candidate #S251112cm has caught some interest. A false alarm or a big discovery—we will keep investigating. Catch up in these two articles

www.science.org/content/arti... by Adrian Cho

www.iflscience.com/candidate-gr... by @drcarpineti.bsky.social

🔭🧪☄️⚛️
www.science.org
November 22, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Reposted by LIGO Scientific Collaboration
lesguthman.bsky.social
Sad but pleased to release today our homage to LIGO’s wonderful Rai Weiss, who passed away in September just shy of his 93rd birthday. It is Episode 10 of our 9-year @ligo.org YouTube video series. In our last interview, he insisted that @NSF “is the hero of LIGO.” 🧪
youtu.be/hsiyG6Y0t4M
EPISODE10 - "RAI WEISS: LIGO'S HEART AND SOUL
YouTube video by Advanced LIGO Documentary Project
youtu.be
November 20, 2025 at 4:56 PM
ligo.org
Our fourth observing run (O4) has seen our detectors perform better than ever before. Together with @egovirgo.bsky.social and KAGRA we have identified more gravitational-wave candidates than in all previous observing runs combined

#O4IsHere 🔭⚛️🧪
A cumulative detection plot, including significant candidate events from O4a, O4b, and O4c. There were a totla of 3 probable canddiates following O1, 11 following O2, 90 following O3, and 218 following O4a. There were 165 significant candidates in O4b and 68 in O4c. The total is almost 400. From O1 through O4a, the counts refer to the detected gravitational-wave events that are included in the GWTC papers. In contrast, the counts for O4b and O4c refer to candidate events for which a significant low-latency alert was issued and that were not subsequently retracted. The O4c data collection period is divided into two segments: January 28 April 1, 2025 and June 11 November 18, 2025. These segments are distinguished in the figure by different fill colors: the first is represented in dark blue, and the second in light blue. The intervening gap is omitted from the figure.
November 19, 2025 at 8:28 PM
ligo.org
Our Rapid Response Teams celebrate the end of our fourth observing run. Well done everyone!

www.ligo.caltech.edu/news/ligo202...

O4 was a success thanks to lots of hard work from across the world.

🔭⚛️🧪
In Japan, KAGRA staff gathered in the control room to celebrate the end of O4. This was the first run that KAGRA took science data simultaneously with Virgo and LIGO. Staff at LIGO Livingston Observatory in Louisiana gathered in the control room to say farewell to O4 In Italy, Virgo staff gathered in the control room to celebrate the end of O4. Staff at LIGO Hanford Observatory in Washington State gathered in the control room at 8am to celebrate the end of O4. Everyone enjoyed morning coffee and cake.
November 19, 2025 at 12:19 PM
ligo.org
Our fourth LIGO @egovirgo.bsky.social KAGRA observing run has now drawn to a close. We will be busy analysing data for a while to come—watch out for more discovery announcements.

We will be back next year observing.docs.ligo.org/plan/
IGWN | Observing Plans
observing.docs.ligo.org
November 18, 2025 at 4:10 PM
ligo.org
In half an hour!
ligo.org LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · Nov 12
Our next webinar will introduce our latest #GWTC4 release and the associated data (papers arxiv.org/abs/2508.18080 and arxiv.org/abs/2508.18079)

Tomorrow at 15:00 UTC, with the recording on YouTube after

Free registration wisconsin-edu.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

☄️🔭
GWTC-4.0 Introduction & Open Data Webinar 13 November 2025 Webinar live from 15:00 UTC
November 13, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Reposted by LIGO Scientific Collaboration
ligomagazine.bsky.social
In the latest edition of the #LIGOMagazine, Catalina Miritescu told us all about bringing #GravitationalWave noise hunting with @ligo.org[email protected] to the Romanian National Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad!

Read all about it at (pdf, page 38): ligo.org/wp-content/u...
A screenshot of LIGO Magazine article "From noise hunting to Olympiads" by Catalina Miritescu. The page shows the article title and a photo of the author. The image shows a plot produced by students as part of their Olympiad challenge. Image credit: Catalina Miritescu.
November 13, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Reposted by LIGO Scientific Collaboration
egovirgo.bsky.social
LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA constantly battle with quantum effects on their mirrors (objects weighing more than 40 kg!), such as quantum radiation pressure noise, that is, fluctuations of the laser field that causes the mirrors to jitter.
October 8, 2025 at 7:50 AM
ligo.org
To convert 15:00 UTC to your timezone you can use www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/c...
Time Zone Converter – Time Difference Calculator
Find the exact time difference with the Time Zone Converter – Time Difference Calculator which converts the time difference between places and time zones all over the world.
www.timeanddate.com
November 12, 2025 at 11:10 AM
ligo.org
Our next webinar will introduce our latest #GWTC4 release and the associated data (papers arxiv.org/abs/2508.18080 and arxiv.org/abs/2508.18079)

Tomorrow at 15:00 UTC, with the recording on YouTube after

Free registration wisconsin-edu.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

☄️🔭
GWTC-4.0 Introduction & Open Data Webinar 13 November 2025 Webinar live from 15:00 UTC
November 12, 2025 at 11:09 AM
ligo.org
Congratulations to Patrick for being honored by the American Physical Society! Prof. Brady is a long-standing member of our collaboration and our former Spokersperson
dgrav.org APS Gravity—DGRAV @dgrav.org · Nov 5
Congratulations to Patrick R. Brady, of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, on being awarded the 2026 Richard A. Isaacson Award in Gravitational-Wave Science! His citation reads:

⚛️🧪 1/2
Headshot of Patrick Brady
November 5, 2025 at 8:41 PM
ligo.org
Not Their First Rodeo: Gravitational Wave Detectors Spot Merging Black Holes That Have Merged Before

aasnova.org/2025/10/28/n... by Kerry Hensley

@aasnova.org report on our discovery of #GW241011 and #GW241110

🔭☄️🧪⚛️
Not Their First Rodeo: Gravitational Wave Detectors Spot Merging Black Holes That Have Merged Before
The gravitational wave events GW241011 and GW241110 provide strong evidence for the growth of black holes through successive mergers.
aasnova.org
November 5, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Reposted by LIGO Scientific Collaboration
jorgepullin.bsky.social
Built a bunch of aOSEMs (optical sensor and electromagnetic actuator) @LIGO - Livingston
November 4, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Reposted by LIGO Scientific Collaboration
ligo.org
🔭Our fourth observing run is due to end on November 18. However, we now expect to have a 6 month observing run in 2026–27 to begin in the late summer/early fall of 2026, with detectors participating as available

observing.docs.ligo.org/plan/

☄️🧪⚛️
IGWN | Observing Plans
observing.docs.ligo.org
November 4, 2025 at 9:59 AM
ligo.org
Our #GW241011 and #GW241110 discovery paper is now on the arXiv

arxiv.org/abs/2510.26931

If you would like to catch up on the highlights, checkout out our Science Summary

ligo.org/science-summ...

🔭☄️⚛️🧪
Screenshot of the arXiv page GW241011 and GW241110: Exploring Binary Formation and Fundamental Physics with Asymmetric, High-Spin Black Hole Coalescence We report the observation of gravitational waves from two binary black hole coalescences during the fourth observing run of the LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA detector network, GW241011 and GW241110. The sources of these two signals are characterized by rapid and precisely measured primary spins, non-negligible spin--orbit misalignment, and unequal mass ratios between their constituent black holes. These properties are characteristic of binaries in which the more massive object was itself formed from a previous binary black hole merger, and suggest that the sources of GW241011 and GW241110 may have formed in dense stellar environments in which repeated mergers can take place. As the third loudest gravitational-wave event published to date, with a median network signal-to-noise ratio of 36.0, GW241011 furthermore yields stringent constraints on the Kerr nature of black holes, the multipolar structure of gravitational-wave generation, and the existence of ultralight bosons within the mass range 10−13--10−12 eV. arXiv:2510.26931 [astro-ph.HE]
November 4, 2025 at 4:34 PM