Gravity wave research. The antenna (cylindrical bar, bottom centre) of the gravitational wave detector Auriga under construction at Legnaro, Italy. Au

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Gravity wave research. The antenna (cylindrical bar, bottom centre) of the gravitational wave detector Auriga under construction at Legnaro, Italy. Auriga is one of the first ultracryogenic antennae in the world. The gravitational waves are detected by the 3m long bar which will be suspended in the yellow cage. The shells shield the bar from external vibrations; the bar is also cooled to a temperature of Kelvin to minimise its atomic vibrations. Auriga will be detecting gravitational waves from supernova explosions from galaxies of the Local Group which are thought to cause vibrations in the bar with an amplitude of a billionth of a billionth of a metre.

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Size: 5037px × 3468px
Photo credit: © TOMMASO GUICCIARDINI/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: auriga, cosmology, detector, gravitational, gravity, italy, physics, relativity, research, supernova, wave