Vicky Kalogera is Thrilled by the Extraordinary
A senior astrophysicist at the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Daniel I. Linzer Distinguished University Professor at Northwestern, Kalogera digs into why she keeps coming back to astrophysics, after more than three decades in astronomy. By: Katie Liu The universe chirped on a Monday. The first indication that astronomical history had been made came in the form of emails piling in Dr. Vicky Kalogera’s inbox. Kalogera, a professor of physics and astronomy at Northwestern, was also a leading astrophysicist of an international group of scientists known as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) Scientific Collaboration. They were chasing after an elusive aftereffect of colliding black holes and dead stars, known as gravitational waves. Albert Einstein predicted their existence over a century ago, but such phenomena were long thought impossible to detect. It was September 14, 2015. LIGO detectors had just turned on following several years of instrument upgrades and renovations. That Monday was also packed for Kalogera, as she juggled hours of back-to-back meetings. Communication zipped back and forth as she checked her phone every now and then. There was something about a signal. Kalogera was convinced, however, it had to be yet another system test – extra insurance to check that the detectors were working properly. With that in mind, she went on to pick up her then-three-year-old from daycare and headed home. As she was setting up dinner, one of her graduate students pinged her with a text. “Have you looked at our emails today?” Yes, Kalogera replied, she had. “Are we testing? Is this a signal? What are we doing?” “We got a signal.” No way, she […]
Read more