The Dawn of Gravitational Wave Astronomy

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On 14th September 2015 the LIGO experiment made the first ever direct detection of gravitational waves, the last unverified prediction of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. This marked the dawn of the era of gravitational wave astronomy, and over the coming months and years, there will be many more similar events. The source of the gravitational waves in this case was a pair of black holes, each around thirty times the mass of our Sun, spiralling in and merging around one billion light years away. The technical achievements of the detection are phenomenal, with the two LIGO detectors able to measure length changes of around a thousandth the size of a proton - one part in a billion billion.These extreme events and complex concepts are of great interest to the general public, and this project will exploit the many outreach and education opportunities afforded by the dawn of the era of gravitational wave astronomy. There is significant involvement in the LIGO experiment in the UK, funded by STFC, and UK scientists are heavily involved in almost all aspects of the experiment, from technology used in the detectors, to searching for signals in the data, and computer models of the sources of gravitational waves. As the LIGO detectors are upgraded over coming years, and as additional detectors become operational around the world, more detections of gravitational waves are sure to be made.While general relativity is a complex theory, and not on the school curriculum, concepts such as gravitational waves and black holes, and the science technology behind the LIGO detectors, provide excellent contexts for use with existing areas of the curriculum, such as the behaviour or waves, interference, lifecycle of stars and circular orbits, as well as direct inclusion in future UK science curricula.This fellowship will develop educational resources to aid teachers in covering LIGO and gravitational waves in lessons. By working with existing teacher networks, it will deliver these resources, and associated educational material, to teachers across the UK, and provide Student Masterclasses and workshops. It will produce a online app to illustrate the workings of a Gravitational Wave observatory, and an interactive, mechanical "Lego LIGO" demonstration for use in workshops and public exhibitions. The current momentum surrounding LIGO and gravitational waves will be maintained in the media.