Showing posts with label Einstein at Home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Einstein at Home. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

What is Einstein@Home?


     Very basically, Einstein@Home is looking for pulsars using data from the LIGO gravitational wave detector and, I think, sometimes, radio data from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.  The Arecibo Observatory is a giant freaking radio telescope (think satellite dish carved into a mountain valley,) a gravitational wave detector is two long buildings, exactly the same length, with mirrors at both ends that a laser bounces between, and a pulsar is a