Ten years since the first reported observation of gravitational waves

Wanner, Gudrun

doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00172-0

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11 February 2026

Ten years since the first reported observation of gravitational waves

In 2016, the first direct observation of gravitational waves was reported. The measurements by the LIGO detectors gave astronomers a new way to observe the Universe.

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Gudrun Wanner ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5578-1471⁰

Gudrun Wanner
1. Gudrun Wanner is at the Institute for Gravitational Physics, Leibniz University Hannover, the Cluster of Excellence QuantumFrontiers and at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute), 30167 Hanover, Germany.
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On 14 September 2015, the two Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors in the United States recorded a brief signal that lasted for about 0.2 seconds. This signal was caused by a gravitational wave from the final orbits and subsequent merger of two black holes. The wave had propagated through the Universe for more than 1.3 billion years before passing through Earth. Although this gravitational wave carried the energy equivalent of three solar masses away from its source, its effect on Earth was minuscule: the wave caused a periodic length variation in the LIGO detectors of around 10⁻¹⁸ metres.

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Nature 650, 301-302 (2026)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-00172-0

References

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The author declares no competing interests.

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[1] Abbott, B. P. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 061102 (2016).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[2] Taylor, J. H., Fowler, L. A. & McCulloch, P. M. Nature 277, 437–440 (1979).
Article Google Scholar

[3] Weisberg, J. M., Nice, D. J. & Taylor, J. H. Astrophys. J. 722, 1030–1034 (2010).
Article Google Scholar

[4] Weiss, R. Rev. Mod. Phys. 90, 040501 (2018).
Article Google Scholar

[5] Weiss, R. Gen. Relativ. Gravit. 54, 153 (2022).
Article Google Scholar

[6] The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, The Virgo Collaboration & The KAGRA Collaboration et al. Preprint at arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2508.18082 (2025).

[7] Abbott, B. P. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 141101 (2017).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[8] Abbott, R. et al. Astrophys. J. 913, L7 (2021).
Article Google Scholar

[9] Abbott, B. P. et al. Phys. Rev. D 100, 104036 (2019).
Article Google Scholar

[10] Abbott, R. et al. Phys. Rev. D 112, 084080 (2025).
Article Google Scholar

[11] Abbott, B. P. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 161101 (2017).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[12] Kasliwal, M. M. et al. Science 358, 1559–1565 (2017).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[13] Colpi, M. et al. Preprint at arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2402.07571 (2024).

[14] Luo, Z., Wang, Y., Wu, Y., Hu, W. & Jin, G. Prog. Theor. Exp. Phys. 2021, 05A108 (2021).
Article Google Scholar

[15] Luo, J. et al. Class. Quantum Grav. 42, 173001 (2025).
Article Google Scholar

[16] Schubert, C. et al. AVS Quantum Sci. 6, 044404 (2024).
Article Google Scholar

[17] Verbiest, J. P. W., Vigeland, S. J., Porayko, N. K., Chen, S. & Reardon, D. J. Results Phys. 61, 107719 (2024).
Article Google Scholar

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