Simulation of merging black holes radiating gravitational waves (source: LIGO, via Wikimedia).
2016/02/11: Big news! EDT products are involved in the exciting announcement that Caltech’s Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) has detected gravitational waves for the first time. Predicted by Albert Einstein 100 years ago, gravitational waves are cosmic ripples which distort space-time itself.
The LIGO project uses EDT frame grabbers and fiber extenders / converters, as diagrammed and described in a 2015 LIGO paper. LIGO’s Hartmann Sensor Control System incorporates a 1-megapixel CCD camera outputting 11-bit data at 60 Hz. The resulting 120 MBytes/sec data stream is transferred over the 100-meter distance via an EDT RCX Camera Link fiber-optic extension system, and into the memory of the receiving Linux computer via an EDT PCI Express Camera Link frame grabber.
LIGO’s Cognizant Scientist for Thermal Compensation Aidan Brooks stated: “We’re absolutely thrilled with the discovery and the public reaction. The EDT Camera Link frame grabbers and fiber converters were actively used as part of the high-precision wavefront sensors in the LIGO adaptive optics that we call our Thermal Compensation System.”’
EDT is excited and honored to be a part of this stunning discovery. For details, explore the links below.
LIGO-RELEASED INFORMATION
Press release (webpage): https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/news/ligo20160211
Press release (PDF): https://www.ligo.org/news/detection-press-release.pdf
Press conference (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEPIwEJmZyE
Paper: https://dcc.ligo.org/public/0010/T1000155/015/T1000155-v15.pdf
REPORTS FROM SCIENCE-FOCUSED NEWS OUTLETS*
Nature (with video): https://www.nature.com/news/einstein-s-gravitational-waves-found-at-last-1.19361
Science: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/02/we-did-it-voices-gravitational-wave-press-conference
Science Alert: https://www.sciencealert.com/live-update-big-gravitational-wave-announcement-is-happening-right-now
Scientific American: https://www.scientificamerican.com/report/the-discovery-of-gravitational-waves/
Space: https://www.space.com/31900-gravitational-waves-discovery-ligo.html
REPORTS FROM MAINSTREAM NEWS OUTLETS*
BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35524440
New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/12/science/ligo-gravitational-waves-black-holes-einstein.html
Los Angeles Times: https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-gravitational-waves-how-to-20160211-story.html
* These links are just a tiny sampling of the extensive coverage of this discovery by major news outlets around the world. More coverage is readily available from multiple independent news sources.