Electromagnetic Follow up of Gravitational-wave Signals

Saturday, October 29, 2011
Hall 1-2 (San Jose Convention Center)
Cinthia Padilla , Physics, California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, CA
Joshua Smith, PhD , Physics, California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, CA
Over the past several years the LIGO, Virgo and GEO600 gravitational-wave detectors have operated together as a worldwide network. The combined data from these detectors allow sky localization of astrophysical gravitational-wave sources. Significant new information can be gained by measuring both the gravitational wave and electromagnetic radiation from a given source. This talk will describe the first operation of a program to acquire electromagnetic images of sky locations corresponding to low-threshold gravitational-wave triggers. The images are now being analyzed for optical transients in nearby galaxies.