Word: vogt
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...only to confirm relativity but also to probe deeply into the most violent processes in the cosmos, including ) exploding supernovas, collisions between black holes, and "starquakes" on the semisolid surfaces of neutron stars. All of these phenomena are believed to send out characteristic bursts of gravity waves. Says Rochus Vogt, the Caltech physics professor who heads the joint M.I.T.-Caltech team that will build LIGO: "We are going to look at a whole new force as a transmitter of signals from the universe. That is bound to bring big surprises...
While the two LIGO installations by themselves will enable scientists to tune in to heavenly disasters, the addition of two more facilities would make it possible to determine the precise locations of the events. Says Vogt: "There are proposals pending to build gravity-wave observatories in Europe and Australia, and we're hoping to put together an international network." That will take time, and some of the most important discoveries lie years in the future. But just as Galileo did with his crude telescope in the early 1600s, the first generation of gravity-wave astronomers will undoubtedly learn things right...