Do you know about the unique scientific treasure in our midst, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory at Hanford?

Known as LIGO (LIE-go), it is supported by the National Science Foundation and operated by Caltech and MIT. With LIGO Hanford and a few other such observatories around the world, scientists have verified the existence of gravitational waves, 'ripples' in space-time caused by some of the most violent and energetic processes in the Universe. LIGO confirmed a prediction by Albert Einstein in 1916 and launched a new field of astronomy.

Join us on Zoom on Thursday, April 18, at noon, when the Columbia Basin Badger Club will present Dr. Michael Landry. His talk “Eddies in a Cosmic Ocean” will review the basics of gravitational waves and other interesting details regarding LIGO. Landry's presentations have drawn positive reviews from many audiences.

Landry is the head of the LIGO Hanford Observatory and a physicist with the California Institute of Technology. He received his PhD from the University of Manitoba in 2000, and started with Caltech as a postdoctoral scholar at LIGO in 2000.  He was lead scientist at the time of the first direct detection of gravitational waves and was named LIGO Hanford Observatory head in 2016.  He is director of operations for Cosmic Explorer and adjunct professor at the departments of Physics and Astronomy of Washington State University and the University of Manitoba.