[LINK] "Gravitational waves detected for 1st time, 'opens a brand new window on the universe'"

[rfmcdonald]

CBC continues to react to yesterday's announcement of the detection of gravitational waves. What will the gravitational observatories of the near future discover, I wonder?

Gravitational waves, ripples in space-time predicted by Einstein's general theory of relativity 100 years ago, have finally been detected.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have detected gravitational waves. We did it," announced Dave Reitze, executive director of the U.S.-based Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) at a news conference Thursday morning.

Scientists said gravitational waves open a door for a new way to observe the universe and gain knowledge about enigmatic objects like black holes and neutron stars. By studying gravitational waves they also hope to gain insight into the nature of the very early universe, which has remained mysterious.

"I think we're opening a window on the universe," Reitze said.

"Until this moment we had our eyes on the sky and we couldn't hear the music," said Columbia University astrophysicist Szabolcs Marka, a member of the discovery team. "The skies will never be the same."

[. . .]

The scientific milestone, announced at a news conference in Washington, was achieved using a pair of giant laser detectors in the United States, located in Louisiana and Washington state, capping a long quest to confirm the existence of these waves.