Spacetime Symphony: Gravitational Waves Astronomy Talk | Los Altos

Submitted by the Event Organizer

Dr. Lynn Cominsky of Sonoma State University will give a free, illustrated, non-technical talk on “Spacetime Symphony: Gravitational Waves from Merging Black Holes” in the Smithwick Theater at Foothill College, in Los Altos. The talk is part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series, now in its 17th year.

One hundred years ago Albert Einstein published his General Theory of Relativity, which predicts the kinds of changes in the universe that produce gravitational waves — which travel at the speed of light, but are much harder to detect than light waves.

On September 14, 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) received the first confirmed gravitational wave signals. The event that produced them was the merger of two distant and massive black holes that were in mutual orbit.

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