On February 3, 2021, at 5.30 pm CET an international ceremony was held online for the joint recognition of three Milestones “Gravitational-Wave Antenna, 1972-1989” at the laboratories of :
LIGO Hanford, Washington, LIGO Livingston, Louisiana, with the two citations:
“Initially developed from 1972 to 1989, the Gravitational-Wave Antenna enabled detection of ripples in spacetime propagating at the speed of light, as predicted by Albert Einstein’s 1916 Theory of General Relativity. Construction of Hanford’s Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) commenced in 1994. In 2015, LIGO antennas, located in [Washington and in Louisiana], first detected gravitational waves produced 1.3 billion years ago from two merging black holes. “
Virgo, Cascina (PI), with the citation:
“Initially developed from 1972 to 1989, the Gravitational-Wave Antenna enabled detection of ripples in spacetime propagating at the speed of light, as predicted by Albert Einstein’s 1916 Theory of General Relativity. Construction of the Virgo Gravitational-Wave Observatory commenced in 1997. In 2017, Virgo and two antennas located in the USA launched the era of Multi-Messenger Astronomy with the coordinated detection of gravitational waves from a binary neutron star merger. “
The program included international scientific personalities with the particular contribution of 4 Nobel laureates and historical figures who contributed to the realization of the Virgo antenna. Details of the day and other information are available directly on the website: gwamilestone.com
On February the 3rd at 4.30 pm CET, the IEEE Italy Section together with the Director of EGO-Virgo prof. Stavros Katsanevas organized a pre-ceremony with the contributions of the authorities and representatives of EGO-Virgo.
Below a photo of the ceremony.
