3 ms·

You don't use parallax, rather you calculate the direction of the source by using the arrival times of the signals. The nearer detector will receive the signal

You don't use parallax, rather you calculate the direction of the source by using the arrival times of the signals. The nearer detector will receive the signal slightly earlier by an amount that will typically be on the order of a few hundredths of a second. This is essentially the same method that geologists use to determine the epicenter of an earthquake.

Xeoncross 10y ago
This seems horribly prone to manipulation by cosmic radiation, gravity, and a million slower alterations like the rotation of the earth which when combined produce a noticeable effect. The assumption here is that no force has acted on the energy arriving enough to distort two arrays on earth.
- Gibbon1 10y ago
  I think the assumption is that the paths taken are almost identical because the distance to the source is vastly longer than the distance between the detectors.
- pg_is_a_butt 10y ago
  you seem horribly prone to misunderstanding basic physics, lady
- RaleyField 10y ago
  > seems horribly No physicists here but you don't seem to be either. Irc from what had been said with the first event gravitational waves pass through matter and aren't disturbed like em waves, that's why they supposedly open new doors. Secondly, just take it at face value, if they say so it is so, it might seem improbable and "horribly prone to manipulation" but they probably thought of that and have machines precise enough to compensate for whatever effects you or me imagined e.g. "LIGO is designed to detect a change in distance between its mirrors 1/10,000th the width of a proton"[1]. It's like your grandma, never having touched computers, expressing opinions on the next release of some developer tool. [1]https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/facts https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/facts
- contravariant 10y ago
  You do realise that gravitational waves are incredibly weakly interacting? Also they travel at the speed of light, the rotation of the earth is pretty much constant (if not negligible).

Xeoncross 10y ago

This seems horribly prone to manipulation by cosmic radiation, gravity, and a million slower alterations like the rotation of the earth which when combined produce a noticeable effect. The assumption here is that no force has acted on the energy arriving enough to distort two arrays on earth.

Gibbon1 10y ago
I think the assumption is that the paths taken are almost identical because the distance to the source is vastly longer than the distance between the detectors.
pg_is_a_butt 10y ago
you seem horribly prone to misunderstanding basic physics, lady
RaleyField 10y ago
> seems horribly No physicists here but you don't seem to be either. Irc from what had been said with the first event gravitational waves pass through matter and aren't disturbed like em waves, that's why they supposedly open new doors. Secondly, just take it at face value, if they say so it is so, it might seem improbable and "horribly prone to manipulation" but they probably thought of that and have machines precise enough to compensate for whatever effects you or me imagined e.g. "LIGO is designed to detect a change in distance between its mirrors 1/10,000th the width of a proton"[1]. It's like your grandma, never having touched computers, expressing opinions on the next release of some developer tool. [1]https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/facts https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/facts
contravariant 10y ago
You do realise that gravitational waves are incredibly weakly interacting? Also they travel at the speed of light, the rotation of the earth is pretty much constant (if not negligible).