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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.

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Reposted by LIGO Scientific Collaboration

LIGO-India @ligoindia.bsky.social · 4d

14th Sep was celebrated internationally by the international scientific community as the tenth anniversary of the first direct detection of #Gravitationalwaves. LIGO-India EPO joined the global celebration by organising a special event on this day
IUCAA, Pune

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LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · 8d

We would usually consider them as travelling waves

LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · 8d

Count down the top 10 breakthroughs in the 10 years since our first detection with @space.com. Do you agree with their picks?

www.space.com/astronomy/li... by @robleascijorno.bsky.social

#GW10Years 🔭 ⚛️ 🧪

Screenshot: 1. Proving Einstein right! The first gravitational wave detection.

On Sept. 14, 2015, ripples in space-time washed over Earth that were generated by the merger of two black holes, each with a mass of around 30 times that of the sun. This signal, which would come to be known as GW150914 (GW for "gravitational wave" and the following numbers for the date of measurement), had been traveling to our planet for 1.4 billion years.

GW150914's arrival and detection confirmed a theory that was first proposed a century earlier by arguably history's most famous physicist, Albert Einstein, in his 1915 theory of gravity, general relativity.

Screenshot: 10. Proving Einstein ... wrong!?!

The LIGO project operates two detector sites: one near Hanford in eastern Washington, and another near Livingston, Louisiana (shown here). The observatory has four kilometre arms, long concrete tubes surrounded by the greenery of Louisiana. The central building shines white in the middle of the picture. There is LIGO's Science Education Center there is you would like to visit.

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LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · 13d

Yesterday's Astronomy Picture of the Day #APOD featured #GW250114! This artwork imagines the ultimate front-row seat as two black holes spiral together on their way toward producing the strongest gravitational-wave signal we've detected so far

apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25092...

🎨A Simonnet 🔭🐚

This artwork imagines the ultimate front-row seat for GW250114, a powerful collision between two black holes observed in gravitational waves by the US National Science Foundation LIGO. It depicts the view from one of the black holes as it spirals toward its cosmic partner.

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LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · 18d

A (simplified) interferometer layout made from brownies!

We think it's safe to eat a few more components, and still give a good idea of how things work

🖼️: D Grass

🧵🎂 #GW10Years

An intricate arrangements of brownies representing the various optical components of the LIGO interferometers. It is surprising complicated. Candles in the shape of 10 are to the side.

LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · 18d

Celebrations at @vanderbilt.edu with artistic arrangements of cupcakes. We would like to analyze some of these. For science, of course

🖼️: C Chatterjee

🧵🎂 #GW10Years

Chocolate cupcakes in the shape of a gravitational-wave signal. Is this a binary merger? It looks like it would have a high mass source?

Two clusters of chocolate cupcakes, each trailing an arc of vanilla cupcakes (with sprinkles!). An artistic representation of a black hole binary inspiralling.

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LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · 18d

Two black (hole) forest cakes from Lyon! Real black holes are not as chocolatey

We hope that @ehtelescope.bsky.social approve

🖼️: J Degallaix (@egovirgo.bsky.social)

🧵🎂 #GW10Years

A chocolate cake covered with chocolate shavings, decorated a variety of chocolate sphere representing our black hole observations. There are birthday candles in the shape of 1 and 0 (make a wish!)

A chocolate cake topped with a EHT-style image of a black hole and "10 Ans GW150914" as well as two chocolate spheres.

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LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · 18d

Last Sunday was the 10th anniversary of our first #GravitationalWave detection!

Join us for a thread of celebratory cakes enjoyed by members of our collaboration

First, a cake from @ozgrav.bsky.social Looks like plenty to share?

🖼️: J Powell

🧵🎂 #GW10Years

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Reposted by LIGO Scientific Collaboration

LISA Community @lisacommunity.bsky.social · 18d

Looking for some more #GravitationalWave listening today?📻 Check out this podcast from The Naked Scientists, including interviews with Gaby González (@ligo.org) & @ithorpe.bsky.social from #LISA!

Find it at www.thenakedscientists.com/podcasts/nak...
or wherever you listen to podcasts!

#GW10Years

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Reposted by LIGO Scientific Collaboration

Christopher Berry @cplberry.bsky.social · 26d

The Kerr solution is truly remarkable. A mathematical description of black holes with just two parameters—this would make black holes the simplest macroscopic objects in the Universe. And all our observations show that this does describe astrophysical black holes as far as we can tell

🔭⚛️🧪

LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · 26d

Tests of general relativity and the nature of black hole with #GW250114 is out now

GW250114 is so loud, it sometimes provides tighter constraints than all of the signals in #GWTC4 combined

Learn about all the details in our science summary ligo.org/science-summ...

📔: arxiv.org/abs/2509.08099

🧪⚛️☄️

$Measured 90% upper bounds on possible deviations from general relativity in the post-Newtonian expansion of the inspiral phase of the gravitational-wave signal. The post-Newtonian framework describes the inspiral phase as a series in powers of the binary’s orbital velocity (v/c), where c is the speed of light, with each coefficient predicted uniquely by general relativity. For the (v/c)¹ term, general relativity predicts the coefficient to be exactly zero, so the bound corresponds to an absolute deviation; for all other orders, bounds represent fractional deviations. The blue stars show the constraints measured from GW250114. For comparison, light red bands mark results from individual GWTC-4.0 signals, and red squares indicate combined catalog constraints from 17 events. Across all post-Newtonian orders, the measurements from GW250114 place upper bounds that are two to three times more stringent than those obtained by combining multiple events.$

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LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · 19d

“With an idea that the impossible is often possible if you work hard at it. What we do here is thought to be impossible for many decades” Our own @giaime.net talks to @wafb.com about our 10th anniversary

www.wafb.com/2025/09/15/f... by Liam Combs

#GW10Years 🔭🧪⚛️

Federal cuts threaten research at observatory, a decade after historic discovery

President Trump’s federal budget proposal includes a 40% budget cut for LIGO

www.wafb.com

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Reposted by LIGO Scientific Collaboration

LIGO Magazine @ligomagazine.bsky.social · 19d

And the other poster takes a look at @ligo.org @egovirgo.bsky.social KAGRA and their science.

By Gwendolyn Krenkel (Artwork and Concept), Sascha Rieger/ Milde Marketing Science Comms.
Full resolution version at: dcc.ligo.org/G2501956/pub...

#GW10Years

"What is LIGO?" poster. The poster features a range of line drawings in blue and white explaining LIGO and its science. In each scene the character explains an aspect of LIGO or gravitational-wave science. The poster includes information including: LIGO has 4km long arms; the location of the LIGO instruments in Hanford and Livingston; the first detection happened in 2015; the other gravitational wave detectors are Virgo in Italy, KAGRA in Japan, GEO600 in Germany.

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LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · 20d

*waves*

LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · 20d

A decade of detecting gravitational waves: The Naked Scientists podcast catch up on the current status of gravitational-wave astronomy and future plans, including an interview with Prof. Gaby Gonzalez

www.thenakedscientists.com/podcasts/nak...

#GW10Years 🔭🧪⚛️

A decade of detecting gravitational waves

To boldly LIGO...

www.thenakedscientists.com

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LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · 20d

We'd prefer a nice birthday cake

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LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · 21d

During the recent LIGO @egovirgo.bsky.social KAGRA meeting, the 2024 winner of the LIGO Laboratory Award for Excellence in Detector Characterization and Calibration, Louis Dartez, received his honorary Calibration Wizard hat.

Congratulations to Dr. Dartez!

www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/award-e...

Louis Dartez receiving his LIGO Calibration Wizard hat at the September 2025 LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA meeting from Jess McIver. The hat is a traditional pointy blue hat, but is covered with images of lasers.

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Reposted by LIGO Scientific Collaboration

LIGO Magazine @ligomagazine.bsky.social · 22d

As well as looking back at the last decade, we take a peak at some recent results with behind the scenes stories about the latest #GravitationalWave catalog with Lucy Thomas, @daniel-williams.co.uk and @michaelpuerrer.bsky.social

#GW10Years
#GWTC4

A page of LIGO Magazine article "GWTC-4.0 Catalog Paper". The page includes an image showing the gravitational wave observations so far which are indicated by circles at different distances from a central point signifying the Earth. Image created by: Derek Davis/Rhiannon Udall/Caltech/LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA
The page also includes a photo of one of the authors, Lucy Thomas.

A page of LIGO Magazine article about GWTC-4.0. The page includes a photo of one of the authors, Daniel Williams.

A page of the LIGO Magazine article about GWTC-4.0. The image at the top of the page is called the "masses in the stellar graveyard plot". It summarises the gravitational wave observations of neutron stars and black holes so far. Each object is represented by a circle and they are ordered vertically by mass. The image is full of circles representing many observations. The horizontal arrangement is purely aesthetic and appears like the spread wings of a bird. Image credit: LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA/Aaron Geller/Northwestern.
The page also shows a photo of one of the authors, Michael Pürrer.

A page of the LIGO Magazine article about GWTC-4.0. The image at the top of the page shows an older version of the masses in the stellar graveyard plot from 2017. This older version has far fewer observations compared to the current version (described in another image within this post). Image credit: LIGO-Virgo/Frank Elaysky/Northwestern University.

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Reposted by LIGO Scientific Collaboration

Erin Macdonald is on a social media break @drerinmac.bsky.social · 24d

This is a wonderful mini (< 10 min) documentary about @ligo.org and the first gravitational wave detection 10 (!) years ago, made by my former colleagues at @uofgravity.bsky.social.
I love the inclusion of all the broader scientific applications of the technology.

youtu.be/SqhFtkQ4f2c?...

University of Glasgow celebrates 10th anniversary of first gravitational wave detection

YouTube video by University of Glasgow

youtu.be

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LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · 22d

Data for #GW250114, like all our detections, are available from our Open Science Center

doi.org/10.7935/1g4j...

If you would like to know more about our open data, our paper explains: arxiv.org/abs/2508.18079

#OpenScience #OpenData ☄️🔭⚛️

Screenshot of GWOSC page. This includes information on the detection, links to data, spectrogram plots, and parameter estimation results giving source parameters inferred with different waveform models

Reposted by LIGO Scientific Collaboration

LIGO Magazine @ligomagazine.bsky.social · 22d

And a big thank you to Rob Coyne (@robcoyne.com) and Peter Shawhan for going above and beyond to help us get this bumper edition over the line - including inserting posters in each & every copy at the @ligo.org [email protected] meeting in Colorado last week!

(📸 Photo by Peter Shawhan)

Rob Coyne inserting posters into the LIGO Magazine edition. Rob is sat at a table in a conference room with several round tables and chairs behind. A LIGO Magazine is open on the table and a poster has just been added to it. To the side there are more LIGO Magazines in a pile waiting in the production line. Photo credit: Peter Shawhan.

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Reposted by LIGO Scientific Collaboration

Joe Giaime @giaime.net · 22d

Gabriela González's keynote slides and voice from LLO's Sept 14 anniversary event are up, thanks to Jorge Pullin! #GW10Years

jorgepullin.bsky.social @jorgepullin.bsky.social · 22d

www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_GI...

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LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · 22d

The New York Times shares celebrations of our 10 year anniversary, and the challenges ahead, with memories of Rai Weiss and our clearest detection #GW250114

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/s... by Dennis Overbye

#GW10Years 🔭 🧪 ⚛️ ☄️

NY Times headline: "Happy Birthday, LIGO. Now Drop Dead. Ten years ago, astronomers made an epic discovery with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. Cosmology hasn’t been the same since, and it might not stay that way much longer." Underneath, an artistic representation of two black holes orbiting each other.

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LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · 22d

Congratulations to our collaboration member Sir Jim Hough (@uofgravity.bsky.social) who has been awarded the Baird of Bute Innovation Award, for his contributions to gravitational-wave science

www.gla.ac.uk/news/headlin...

Photo of Sir Jim smiling. He is wearing his usual round glasses, and a rather snazzy tie with a print of aeroplanes.

Reposted by LIGO Scientific Collaboration

LIGO Magazine @ligomagazine.bsky.social · 22d

🎉 New LIGO Magazine out now!! 🎉

Celebrating 10 years of gravitational wave astronomy with a bumper edition!

Read it free online at (pdf):
👉 ligo.org/wp-content/u...

#GW10Years #LIGOMagazine @ligo.org @egovirgo.bsky.social

Front cover of LIGO Magazine issue 27. The headline article text reads:
"10 years of Gravitational Wave Astronomy". Two gravitational wave signals are shown in the main image - they are shown as timeseries data which look wiggles. In the top corner, an illustration of a birthday cake is shown - the cake is being distorted as it is sucked into a black hole!

Cover: Main image: GW150914 and GW231123 image by LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA/Sascha Rieger. Top inset: GW231123 plot from LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA. Bottom inset: Masses in the stellar graveyard plot by LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA/Aaron Geller/Northwestern. Bottom-left (diagonal): LISA image from OHB.
Top-right corner: GW150914 birthday cake artwork by Storm Colloms.

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LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · 23d

It was a long road to the first detection of gravitational waves, and exciting progress since!

Catch up with the history in this poster from @ligomagazine.bsky.social

ligo.org/wp-content/u...

🗺️: C Lee/C Knox/@ozgrav.bsky.social

#GW10Years 🔭🧪⚛️🎢

The evolution of gravitational-wave science (a colorful timeline)

Starting with theoretical work in the 1910s for the form of the waves, then work in the 1950s to show the waves were real. IN 1978s Hulse and Taylor discovery the binary pulsar, showing evidence for gravitational-wave emission. Work on early detectors went through the 1980s and 1990s, with initial LIGO and Virgo operating together in the 2000s. The advanced detectors followed with development in the 2010s. The first observation came in 2015! We now have hundreds of detections.

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