SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) - An alert from a Syracuse graduate studying in Germany was crucial in expanding another major breakthrough in astronomy recently. <\/p>\n
Alex Nitz - who earned a Ph.D. in physics - was examining data from one of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatorys two massive detectors in Louisiana in January when he observed the gravitational wave. <\/p>\n
Shortly after noting the data from the Louisiana detector, Nitz confirmed what he was seeing with a second detector in Washington state. <\/p>\n
What I saw made my heart jump, Nitz said. <\/p>\n
He then alerted LIGO, which confirmed the phenomena. <\/p>\n
I alerted the group, beginning a process that woke up a lot of people a bit early in the United States. We compared the waveform to data we got from the detectors instruments, hunting for a small signal buried amid the noise. The analysis confirmed both instruments saw the same kind of signal at nearly the same time, Nitz said. <\/p>\n
LIGO announced the detection earlier this week. <\/p>\n
According to LIGO, the collision of two massive black holes billions light years away sparked the gravitational wave. <\/p>\n
They say one of the black holes was 31 times the mass of the sun, while the other was 19 times the mass of the sun. <\/p>\n
If the energy produced was visible light, instead of gravitational waves, the collision would have been brighter than all the stars in the universe combined, said SU physics professor Peter Saulson. <\/p>\n
Researchers at SU said that the detection - LIGOs third since 2015 - demonstrates that a new window into astronomy is fully open. <\/p>\n
Nitz began developing software at SU that was critical in the detection process. <\/p>\n
Nitz says the work helped helped him get in on the ground floor with people looking for gravitational waves from binary black hole mergers. <\/p>\n
We are extremely proud of Alex for helping detect the furthest binary black hole merger that LIGO has seen. These black holes are over 2.8 billion light-years away, said SU physics professor Duncan Brown. <\/p>\n
Syracuse University Gravitational Wave Group from Duncan Brown on Vimeo. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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SU grad key in major astronomy breakthrough - WSYR<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) - An alert from a Syracuse graduate studying in Germany was crucial in expanding another major breakthrough in astronomy recently. Alex Nitz - who earned a Ph.D Continue reading