MONDAY: New Gravitational-wave Discovery to be Announced
10/11/2017
BATON ROUGE – Scientists directly involved with the discovery will be in Baton Rouge to participate in an inaugural gravitational wave conference hosted by the LSU Department of Physics & Astronomy.
WHAT:
The Gravitational Wave Astrophysics conference sponsored by the International Astronomical
Union will livestream the LIGO Laboratory, LIGO Scientific Collaboration, National
Science Foundation and Virgo Collaboration press conference. Journalists are invited
to watch the livestream of the press conference on Monday, Oct. 16, at 9 a.m. (CDT)
from the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
The livestreamed press conference will begin with an overview of new findings from
LIGO, Virgo and partners that span the globe, followed by details from telescopes
that work with the LIGO and Virgo Collaboration to study extreme events in the cosmos.
The first detection of gravitational waves, made on Sept. 14, 2015 and announced on
Feb. 11, 2016, was a milestone in physics and astronomy. It confirmed a major prediction
of Albert Einstein’s 1915 general theory of relativity and marked the beginning of
the new field of gravitational-wave astronomy. Since then, there have been three more
confirmed detections, one of which (and the most recently announced) was the first
confirmed detection seen jointly by both the LIGO and Virgo detectors.
The published articles announcing LIGO’s first, second and third confirmed detections
have been cited more than 1,700 times (total), according to the Web of Science citation
counts. A fourth paper on the three-detector observation was published on Oct. 6.
WHEN:
Monday, Oct. 16
9 a.m. (CDT)
WHERE:
Crowne Plaza Hotel (Premier Room 1)
4728 Constitution Ave.
Baton Rouge, La. 70808
WHO:
LSU College of Science Dean Cynthia Peterson and LSU Department of Physics & Astronomy
Chair John DiTusa will provide opening remarks. LSU Department of Physics & Astronomy
Professor and former LIGO Scientific Collaboration spokesperson Gabriela Gonzalez
will be on hand to answer questions.
LIVE WEBCAST:
This event will be simulcast live online. The press conference presenters will try
to answer some questions submitted remotely. For details about how to participate
remotely, please contact Aya Collins at the NSF 703-292-7736 or acollins@nsf.gov.
Additional Link:
Gravitational Wave Astrophysics: Early Results from GW Searches and Electromagnetic
Counterparts: http://iau338.lsu.edu/
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Contact Alison Satake
LSU Media Relations
225-578-3870
asatake@lsu.edu
Mimi LaValle
LSU Department of Physics & Astronomy
225-439-5633
mlavall@lsu.edu