The Dawn of Gravitational Wave Astronomy

Thursday, April 6 at 7 pm at USSRC Education Training Facility
Dr. Tyson Littenberg, NASA MSFC, Research Astrophysicist

In 2015 the Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO) made the breakthrough discovery of merging black holes through the detection of gravitational waves. This talk will tell the story of the detection, what new things it has taught us about the universe, and what the new field of gravitational wave astronomy has in store. Links of Interests

  • LIGO Lab: Caltech and MIT
  • LIGO Scientific Collaboration
  • Gravity Spy, citizen science program where you can help to find the elusive gravity wave


    • Download Event Flyer


    About Dr. Tyson B. Littenberg

    Dr. Tyson B. Littenberg is a research astrophysicist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. Dr. Littenberg is a member of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) Scientific Collaboration and serves as the principal investigator for the NASA/MSFC LIGO Group, and was a member of the team which made the breakthrough discovery of gravitational waves . Dr. Littenberg’s research focus is on gravitational physics and developing Bayesian inference methods for solving big data challenges in astrophysics.

    USSRC Education Training Facility

    U.S. Space & Rocket Center's Education Training Facility (ETF) is located approximate at 5 Tranquility Base [Google Map] on the campus of U.S. Space & Rocket Center (USSRC). Sometime the online maps will take you to the Marriott, which share the same address. It is the brown building just after the turn to the Marriott when you are approaching USSRC. It has both the USSRC and NASA logo on the main entrance. On Google Map it is listed as "Marshall Institute Education Training Facility. HAL5's meeting takes place in the main auditorium on the first floor. Toward the back of the building when you come in. There will be signage pointing you to the auditorium.


    If you click on above map, it should open up Apple Map if you on an iOS device, and Google Map on Android/Window devices or Desktop browser (regardless of OS). If you like, here is the direct link to the Google Maps