Another honor has been bestowed on the scientists at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, otherwise known as LIGO.
Physics World has awarded its 2017 Breakthrough of the Year award to the team of LIGO astronomers and astrophysicists for observing for the first time gravitational waves caused by two merging neutron stars. The 1,000-member LIGO team includes LSU researchers and scientists.
The Aug. 17 discovery ushered in the era of multi-messenger astronomy. The scientists observed the colliding stars by using LIGO, the Europe-based Virgo detector, and some 70 ground- and space-based instruments.
The coordinated observations have already provided a vast amount of information about what happens when neutron stars collide, Physics World says. It also yielded important clues about heavy elements like gold.
“The staff of the LIGO Livingston Observatory, together with students and scholars in residence, and including many from LSU, have worked hard for many years to operate and improve the detector, making it capable of participating in this discovery,” says Joe Giaime, head of LIGO Livingston and LSU professor of physics and astronomy. “The gravitational-wave and other astronomical observations reported mark LIGO’s full involvement in multi-messenger astronomy.”
The magazine also recognized the Pierre Auger Collaboration reported observance that ultra-high-energy cosmic rays have extra-galactic origins—another LSU-involved project—as a Top 10 breakthrough of the year.
