EGO and Virgo participate in the European Researchers’ Night with the PICO project

The European Researchers’ Night  (ERN) is coming back! The European Gravitational Observatory (EGO) in Cascina, the institutional home of the Virgo interferometer, will participate in the ERN with a rich program of activities organized in collaboration with the EU-Funded project “PICO-PhysICs fOr all”, of which EGO is a partner.

The PICO project aims to raise public awareness about fundamental and cutting-edge physics, highlighting how discoveries in this field impact everyday life. The project places particular attention on issues of equity, diversity, inclusion, and gender equality, which will be central to all events and initiatives of the PICO project.

PICO aims to engage citizens and students through a series of activities and events, both in-person and online, organized for the ERN, which will take place on September 26th and 27th. 

The program will kick off on the morning of September 26th with an activity dedicated to the theme “Women at the Frontiers of Knowledge,” which will be held at the Fibonacci Comprehensive School in Pisa.The elementary school students will have the opportunity to meet three prominent EGO researchers working on gravitational wave within the VIRGO collaboration. These female scientists will share their personal and professional journeys as women in science, aiming to inspire young minds to explore careers in this field.

In the afternoon, EGO and Virgo will virtually open their doors through a remote tour, accessible to people around the world! A Virgo researcher will guide participants in exploring gravitational waves and the unique observatory in Europe capable of detecting them.

The visits to the Virgo interferometer will continue in person on the morning of September 27th with elementary and middle school students. Younger children will also engage in workshops designed to explore how a gravitational wave detector works and participate in the so-called “noise hunt” during the “Sound of Universe” workshop. 

In the afternoon, starting at 4.30 p.m., the appointment will be in Piazza Santa Caterina in Pisa to enjoy a unique experience on board the ‘Big Bang Machine’ van. This mobile immersive installation, created by EGO with the support of Fondazione Pisa, IVECO and the European Union project AHEAD 2020, will take visitors on a fascinating virtual journey through space and time, to the origin of our Universe. Aboard this futuristic spacecraft, the visitors will have the chance to explore the most extraordinary phenomena of the Universe: from giant black holes and ultra-dense star mergers to the very first moments of the Cosmos, where the fundamental building blocks of matter were created. The experience will help people to understand how observing cosmic signals reveals not only the history of the Universe but also help in studying our planet and the environments around us. 

The evening continues with an event at 9 PM in Bergamo titled “Women Listening to the Cosmos,” organized by EGO as part of Bergamoscienza.

Pia Astone and Silvia Piranomonte, prominent figures in multimessenger astronomy, will tell us about this revolution and share their personal experiences as women in science. They will offer reflections on both the scientific challenges and the personal and human obstacles they have overcome as successful scientists. Their presentations will be accompanied by music inspired by multimessenger astronomy, featuring real data sonorizations created by Massimo Magrini. 

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