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Bill Steigerwald                April 24, 2003
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
301 285 5017

Release 03-42

PRESS WELCOME TO ATTEND GRAVITATIONAL WAVES MEETING, APRIL 24-26

Scientists searching for gravitational waves, an elusive form of
radiation predicted by Albert Einstein, will gather at a three-day
meeting entitled "The Astrophysics of Gravitational Wave Sources," at
the University of Maryland, College Park, beginning today and
continuing through Saturday, April 26, 2003. 

The meeting will blend recent observations of black holes and other
potential sources of gravitational waves with theoretical
predictions, new computer modeling, and proposed gravitational wave
detectors. The meeting is sponsored by NASA, the National Science
Foundation and Penn State, and is organized by NASA Goddard Space
Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. 

According to Einstein's theory of general relativity, gravitational
waves are ripples in the four-dimensional fabric of space-time
created by massive objects in motion or undergoing an extreme event.
The waves hardly interact with matter, however, altering the distance
of objects as far apart as the Earth and the Moon by less than the
width of an atom. 

While scientists have yet to directly detect gravitational waves,
Russell Hulse and Joseph Taylor won the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics
for indirect detection of gravitational waves from two pulsars in a
close orbit. A new generation of detectors and fervent interest among
scientists may lead to direct detection in the coming years.

Featured presentations at the April gravitational wave meeting
include:

* First results from Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave
Observatory (LIGO), which has established upper limits on the
frequency of neutron star mergers (a source of gravitational
radiation) in the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies. 

* New observations of gamma-ray bursts and predictions of the 
gravitational waves expected to be produced by these cataclysmic 
events.

* New observations of other key sources of gravitational radiation, 
such as pulsars, black holes, neutron stars and supernovae.

* Update on the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) project, a 
proposed space-based mission to complement LIGO by detecting 
gravitational waves at a different range of frequencies.

Gravitational wave astronomy is poised to open a new observational 
window on the Universe through both ground-based, high-frequency 
detectors (LIGO and LIGO II) and space-based, low-frequency detectors 
(LISA), according Dr. Joan Centrella, a theoretical astrophysicist in 
the Goddard Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics and chair of the 
meeting. She said that gravitational wave detectors will provide an 
unprecedented look at astrophysical systems previously viewed almost 
exclusively through electromagnetic 'eyes,' such as optical, X-ray, 
and radio telescopes.

Furthermore, because gravitational waves hardly interact with matter, 
they carry information from the heart of black hole mergers and other 
catastrophic events often enshrouded in dust, which blocks light. 
Background gravitational waves may still be reverberating from the 
Big Bang itself 13.7 billion years ago.

Members of the working press and freelance science writers are 
welcome to attend. Please contact William Steigerwald of NASA Goddard 
Public Affairs. Media must present their credentials at the meeting 
registration desk for free registration. Credentials include: a press 
card, a membership card from NASW or a regional affiliate of NASW, or 
prior agreement from Goddard Public Affairs.

For more information about the meeting, including location and 
schedule, refer to:

http://astrogravs.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/agws_workshop/program.html.

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