Penny Kolitsidou
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kopenny.bsky.social
Penny Kolitsidou
@kopenny.bsky.social
42 followers 120 following 0 posts
GW astrophysicist • Postdoc • LIGO • LISA
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Reposted by Penny Kolitsidou
ligo.org
Exciting news: The @ligomagazine.bsky.social now has its own Instagram account!

Check it out here: www.instagram.com/ligomagazine/
The LIGO Magazine Instagram logo. It shows three abstract people, two orange and one blue, on a square yellow background. Above the people are the words "LIGO MAGAZINE" in pink and red, along with a cartoon of two orbiting black holes and the gravitational-wave ripples they produce.
June 18, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Reposted by Penny Kolitsidou
astrokatie.com
This is 1/1000th of the Rubin telescope's field of view. How many galaxies do you see? There are three really obvious ones. Looking more closely, you could find a dozen more that are recognizably galaxy-ish. But really? It's likely that EVERY LITTLE DOT AND SMUDGE is a distant galaxy. All of them. 🤯
A screenshot from the Rubin telescope image explorer page. The image is of three large-ish galaxies (one elliptical, one spiral, and one blue-ish irregular) and a LOT of little fuzzy dots and smudges of various size scattered across the field of view. At the bottom is a label saying "You are looking at ~1/1,000 of Rubin's field of view" and there are some image controls on the edges.
June 24, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Reposted by Penny Kolitsidou
glasgow.ac.uk
Come along to the Gravitational Wave Ceilidh! 💃🕺

Researchers from @uofgphysastro.bsky.social are developing a Scottish country dance with @scienceceilidh.bsky.social inspired by gravitational waves, to be performed at #GR24Amaldi16.

You can join a public rehearsal at GUU on Monday 30 June!
The Gravitational Wave Ceilidh Preview and Talk
This event is a public talk about the project to create science inspired ceilidh dances followed by a public preview of the new dances.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
June 24, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Reposted by Penny Kolitsidou
ligomagazine.bsky.social
Ever wondered what happens if you fall into a black hole?
In the latest #LIGOMagazine, Bartosz Fornal explains "Crossing the event horizon"! With illustrations by Nutsinee Kijbunchoo.

Read free online at (pdf, p.22): ligo.org/wp-content/u...
@ligo.org
A screenshot of LIGO Magazine article "Crossing the Event Horizon" by Bartosz Fornal. The image shows the first page of the article. There is a photo of the author smiling. The main picture is an illustration by Nutsinee Kijbunchoo showing a drawing of an astronaut in space. A screenshot of LIGO Magazine article "Crossing the Event Horizon" by Bartosz Fornal. The image shows the second page of the article. The main picture is an illustration by Nutsinee Kijbunchoo. The picture shows a drawing of a two black holes with faces. The smaller black hole is measuring the circumference of the larger black hole with a tap measure. The smaller one says "Your Schwarzschild radius has gotten bigger. What did you eat?" The other black hole looks sheepish and replies "An astronaut."
June 24, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Reposted by Penny Kolitsidou
ligo.org
Why are there two LIGO observatories?

LIGO has two detectors ~3000 km apart for three main reasons:
🎧 Noise discrimination
⏰ Signal timing
🗺️ Source localization

Find out more www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/ligo-de...

Graphic by Mayara Pacheco 🔭🧪
An infographic titled "Why are there two LIGO observatories?" features a map of the United States showing two LIGO locations separated by 3000 km. Three key reasons are illustrated on the right: Noise Discrimination: Each detector is sensitive to local ground vibrations. If both were close together, they’d pick up the same environmental noise, making it difficult to distinguish true gravitational waves. By comparing data from distant locations, LIGO can filter out local noise and isolate real gravitational wave signals. Signal Timing: Gravitational waves travel at the speed of light, so any signal detected at both sites with a time difference of over 10 milliseconds can be ruled out as a real wave. This time-based filtering helps validate detections. Source Localization: With two detectors, LIGO can begin to narrow down the area in the sky where a wave originated. Adding more detectors (like Virgo in Italy) greatly improves localization. This was crucial during the 2017 detection of a neutron star collision, where combined data allowed astronomers to quickly identify the galaxy that emitted both gravitational and electromagnetic signals, leading to the most observed astronomical event in history.
June 24, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Reposted by Penny Kolitsidou
ligo.org
LIGO and Virgo will resume observing on 11 June joined by KAGRA! All four kilometre-scale gravitational-wave detectors will observe at the same time!

Our observing run (O4) has been extended to run until 18 November 2025 and we look forward to many discoveries

ligo.org/ligo-virgo-k...

☄️🔭🧪
Aerial views of the LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA detectors Credit: Caltech/MIT/LIGO Lab; The Virgo collaboration/CCO 1.0; ICRR, Univ. of Tokyo
June 5, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Reposted by Penny Kolitsidou
debrafischer.bsky.social
This cause is close to my heart - please sign: sign.moveon.org/petitions/we...
We Sign On to Uphold the Paris Agreement!
The Paris Agreement represents a global promise by governments to fulfill their moral obligation by restoring and preserving our most foundational right—the right to a livable planet. As the leader of...
sign.moveon.org
April 20, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by Penny Kolitsidou
rhiannonsilva.bsky.social
Large turnout at London protest today.
‘One hell of a turnout’: trans activists rally in London against gender ruling
Thousands gather in Parliament Square in a show of unity after supreme court judgment
www.theguardian.com
April 19, 2025 at 8:20 PM