LIGO

July Membership Meeting: LIGO Part 2

James Guilford , , ,
Madeline Wade, Ph.D.

The July 2019 membership meeting of the Cuyahoga Astronomical Association (CAA) will take place Monday, July 8, beginning at 7:30 PM.

Featured speaker for the evening will be Dr. Madeline Wade, Assistant Professor of Physics, Kenyon College. Dr. Wade writes: “The Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (aLIGO) has been making ground-breaking discoveries since the moment it turned on in 2015. The LIGO and Virgo Scientific Collaborations have published results for 11 total gravitational wave detections. We have detected gravitational waves from ten merging black hole systems and one merging neutron star system. In this talk, I will give an overview of gravitational-wave physics, the LIGO detectors, and give some highlights of the current discoveries. I will also discuss some of the current and ongoing research I am involved in, including calibration of the LIGO instruments and applications of machine learning algorithms to improve the quality of LIGO data.”

The CAA’s monthly meetings are held on the second Monday of every month (except December) at 7:30 PM at the Rocky River Nature Center; 24000 Valley Parkway; North Olmsted, Ohio, in the Cleveland Metroparks. Meeting programs are open to the public. Following the presentation and a brief social break, the club will conduct its membership business meeting.

June 10 meeting: LIGO presentation to be featured

James Guilford , ,
Photo: Aerial view of the LIGO detector in Livingston, LA. Image Credit: LIGO
Aerial view of the LIGO detector in Livingston, LA. Image Credit: LIGO

The June 2019 meeting of the Cuyahoga Astronomical Association (CAA) will take place on Monday, June 10, beginning at 7:30 PM. CAA member and officer Tim Campbell will discuss the history of LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory), a new and unique type of astronomical instrument. The LIGO system is, however, based upon a nineteenth century instrument developed and first used here in Cleveland. Campbell will also describe his visit to the facility in Livingston, Louisiana. This talk will be a basic-level companion to our July talk to be presented by Dr. Madeline Wade. Assistant Professor of Physics, Kenyon College.

The CAA’s monthly meetings are held on the second Monday of every month (except December) at 7:30 PM at the Rocky River Nature Center; 24000 Valley Parkway; North Olmsted, Ohio, in the Cleveland Metroparks. Meeting programs are open to the public. Following the presentation and a brief social break, the club will conduct its membership business meeting.