Help Unravel the Mysteries of the Cosmos

A LIGO optics suspension - G. Grabeel/LIGO

On September 14, 2015 the twin Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors, measured gravitational waves--ripples in the fabric of spacetime--caused by a cataclysmic event far out in the cosmos. The discovery is the culmination of decades of research and development and the world-wide effort of thousands of researchers.

Now you can be part of the next discovery!

Join Einstein@Home, and use your computer's idle time to search for signals from spinning neutron stars using data from the LIGO gravitational-wave detectors, the Arecibo radio telescope, and the Fermi gamma-ray satellite.

Kip Thorne, Caltech’s Professor of Theoretical Physics, says, “with this discovery, we humans are embarking on a marvelous new quest: the quest to explore the warped side of the universe--objects and phenomena that are made from warped spacetime.” You can help on this quest to unravel the mysteries of the universe just by downloading a new screensaver. While your PC is sitting idle, it can analyze data from searches for gravitational wave signals. 

This first detection heralds a new era in astrophysics. The gravitational waves were produced by the collision of of two black holes. Black holes emit no light, so we had no way to see them, but with gravitational waves they shine like stars in a sea of darkness. The ultimate goal is to use “multi-messenger astronomy”, where gravitational wave detectors and telescopes that "see" in visible light, x-rays, gamma rays, radio waves, and even with neutrinos, all at the same time. Each method of observing provides a different look at the same objects, allowing them to be studied in multiple ways and revealing relationships and interactions never before observed.