The first direct detection of gravitational waves (GWs),
announced on 11 February 2016, has opened a vast new
frontier in astronomy. Albert Einstein predicted the existence of these waves about a century ago as a consequence of his general theory of relativity. Radio
astronomy observations of the binary pulsar system PSR
1913 + 16 over a 20 year period beginning in 1975 provided
strong observational evidence that gravitational waves carried energy away from the orbits of neutron stars at precisely the level predicted by general relativity
(GR). This relentless conversion of orbital energy into
gravitational wave energy causes binary orbits to decay
until the objects eventually collide and merge. The frontier
of precision measurement science, using laser interferometers, was pushed for more than four decades to
achieve this first direct detection, marking a milestone in
experimental physics and engineering. Even more significantly, this milestone also opens a new window onto our universe and a completely new kind of astronomy to
explore
