[In Depth] European gravitational wave detector falters
Thursday, February 16, 2017 - 16:51
in Astronomy & Space
On 20 February, dignitaries will descend on Virgo, Europe's premier gravitational wave detector near Pisa, Italy, for a dedication ceremony to celebrate a 5-year, €24 million upgrade. But the pomp will belie nagging problems that are likely to keep Virgo from joining its U.S. counterpart, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), in a hunt for gravitational wave sources that was meant to start next month. What has hobbled the 3-kilometer-long observatory: glass threads just 0.4 millimeters thick, which have proved unexpectedly fragile. Virgo should be ready to join LIGO when it resumes observations in spring 2018 after a break, but for now Virgo's sensitivity is compromised. Author: Daniel Clery