Einstein's Messengers

Einstein's Messengers is an award-winning documentary on LIGO, NSF's Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory. The video examines how LIGO is spearheading the new field of gravitational wave astronomy and opening a whole new window on the universe. It explains how LIGO's exquisitely sensitive instruments may ultimately take us farther back in time than we've ever been, catching, perhaps, the first murmurs of the universe in formation. Above all, Einstein's Messengers is a compelling, thought-provoking production about the drama of the scientific quest.

LIGO searches for the ripples of space-time called gravitational waves. Albert Einstein first predicted these waves in his 1916 general theory of relativity, but for years their effects were regarded as too small to measure. LIGO, supported by the National Science Foundation, now participates in an international quest to uncover the messages that gravitational waves will bring from highly energetic distant events. These messages may revolutionize our understanding of black holes, neutron stars and the processes that formed the universe.

About the Video
Date
March 1, 2005
ID
ligo01032005v
Type
Education
Credit
National Science Foundation