Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, EGO and the Virgo collaboration are still enthusiastic about bringing the wonderful world of gravitational waves to the public.

That’s why, once again this year, on the occasion of the European Researchers’ Night on November 27th 2020, EGO and Virgo will not fail you and will open their doors to visitors but this time it will be for an online live visit! You will just miss the cryogenic ice cream!

Programme of the day November 27th, 2020:

  • 11:00 am: remote live visit in Italian (info and registration here)
  • 2.30 pm: remote live visit in English (info and registration here)
  • 4:00 pm: Online event. Gravitational waves, the most violent of all cosmic phenomena, but also the Moon and the nearest planets, will be the protagonists of “The Sound of the Universe” (streamed both in italian and english) These topics will be explored through stories, speeches and short videos by scientists and artists of international level. (info and registration here)
Live Online: Discover EGO and Virgo!

Virgo is one of the three largest and most sensitive gravitational wave detectors in the world and consists of a laser interferometer, with arms of 3 km, lying in the countryside near Pisa. You will be connected live with the European Gravitational Observatory (EGO), where the Virgo experiment is installed, in which hundreds of European researchers participate. It will be some of these that will guide you to discover the crucial points of the detector: the long tunnels in which the lasers propagate, the interferometer mirrors suspended in 11-meter high vacuum bells and the control room, where thanks to countless controls automated make all components of Virgo work. Here in an interactive session you will discover the complexity of this extraordinary instrument, capable of listening to the echo of cosmic events that took place millions or billions of light years from Earth.

Watch the virtual visit on EGO and Virgo’s Facebook page

The Sound of the Universe

Gravitational waves, the most violent of all cosmic phenomena, but also the Moon and the nearest planets, will be the protagonists of “The Sound of the Universe”, online event (streamed both in italian and english) that will take place at 4:00 pm on November 27th, 2020. These topics will be explored through stories, speeches and short videos by scientists and artists of international level, including Tomás Saraceno, Lilian Lijn, Wanda Díaz-Merced, Bernard Foing and Yves Langevin, Alessandro Tosi and Stavros Katsanevas. The event has been curated in collaboration with Museo della Grafica di Pisa
You can watch again the event on EGO and Virgo’s Facebook page 

Program of the event from 4:00pm to 7:00pm:

  • Opening Remarks by Stavros Katsanevas, EGO Director
  • “ The Sound of Planets” Yves Langevin, co- Principal Investigator Bepi Colombo & JUICE (ESA Missions),
  • “GW181124“ short video Raphael dalla Porta, artist
  • Wanda- Diaz Merced, astrophysicist and sonification expert
  • “The politics of Solar Rhythms: Cosmic Levitation” video Tomas Saraceno, artist
  • “The Sound of the Moon”, Bernard Foing, astrophysicist, Executive Director International Lunar Exploration Working Group, ILEWEG
  • moonmeme” Liliane Lijn, video and discussion with the artist
  • Alessandro Tosi, Scientific Director, Museo della Grafica
  • Round table and debate with the participants, moderated by Paola Antolini, anthropologist and journalist
  • Surfing Einstein. On the track of Gravitational waves” Margherita and Cappelletto Campos Olivé (film trailer) introduced by Valerio Boschi INFN researcher
  • “To the discovery of the moon” Direct observations with the Association of Cascina Astrofili

 

Waiting for November 27, meet Matthieu, Valerio, Julia, Matteo, Beatrice and Luca, who tell you about their specific area of expertise.