EGO and the Virgo Collaboration

Image credits: ESO/L. Calçada/M. Kornmesser

[...] we will be able to observe tens of thousands of neutron star mergers, which are currently extremely rare events. With the Einstein Telescope, we will be able to accurately trace the formation of heavy elements throughout cosmic history, revolutionising our knowledge of the Universe."

"This award celebrates the discoveries of the past and the potential of the present, but above all, it paves the way for the future," says Branchesi. "The Einstein Telescope will be the real turning point: thanks to its sensitivity [...]

🎤 Among the six researchers who will receive the award is Marica Branchesi, professor of astrophysics at the GSSI - Gran Sasso Science Institute in L'Aquila, associate researcher at INFN and INAF and member of the Virgo collaboration.

[...] following the detection or the first coalescence of neutron stars by the LIGO and Virgo gravitational antennas on August 17th 2017.

💫 The ENGRAVE collaboration was awarded one million euros for its groundbreaking discoveries at the intersection of physics, cosmology and astrophysics, and in particular for revealing the process of heavy element formation in neutron star mergers [...]

The ENGRAVE scientific collaboration has been awarded the Into Change prize, in its first edition, by the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science. The prize is dedicated to European research groups that have conducted exceptional and innovative studies at the highest international level 🏅

However, this upgrade will likely be implemented in several stages, with periods of data collection in between and a new observation campaign starting in late summer/early autumn 2026 and lasting approximately six months.

⏩ The LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA interferometers are preparing for a new phase of technological upgrades and testing over the next few years.

Virgo has played a crucial role, contributing to the detection and characterization of numerous signals. The success of the O4 run reflects the strength of international collaboration and the relentless effort of our teams to push the boundaries of such challenging measurements.”

“The completion of O4 marks a historic milestone: the longest observing run ever conducted by the global gravitational-wave network - said Gianluca Gemme, spokesperson for the Virgo Collaboration and researcher at @INFN_

Today marks the end of the fourth observing run of the @LIGO - Virgo - @KAGRA_PR gravitational wave detection network 🎆 It was the longest and richest run ever: 585 days and 250+ significant candidate signals, a huge increase from the 90 events of the three past runs combined🤯

"These discoveries highlight, once again, the crucial role of the international network of gravitational interferometers in unravelling the most elusive phenomena in the universe."

Image credits: Carl Knox, OzGrav, Swinburne University of Technology

"GW241011 and GW241110 teach us that some black holes do not just exist as isolated partners, but probably as members of a dense and dynamic crowd." said Gianluca Gemme, researcher INFN and spokesperson of the Virgo Collaboration

These phenomena usually occur in very dense and crowded cosmic environments, such as star clusters, where black holes are more likely to collide and merge repeatedly 💥

They are black hole mergers in which the values of the spin, i.e. the rotation parameters, and the masses of the black holes suggest that they have themselves been generated by previous mergers and are therefore 'second-generation' 🧐

@ligo.org, Virgo and KAGRA have observed 'second generation' black holes for the first time! 🕳️🕳️ In a new paper published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the International Collaboration announced the observation of two very special gravitational signals

In the picture from left to right Nicolas Leroy (CNRS), Joël Groeneveld (FNRS), Jorgen D’Hondt (Nikhef/NWO-I), Marco Pallavicini (INFN), Massimo Carpinelli (EGO Director), Hans Plets (FWO)

EGO, the European Gravitational Observatory, was created 25 years ago by the Italian INFN and the French @cnrs.fr, later joined by @nikhef.bsky.social (Netherlands). This year two new institutions, based in Belgium, joined the consortium: @fwovlaanderen.bsky.social and FNRS 🌍

This morning the five year renewal of the EGO consortium agreement was signed during a meeting of the EGO Council, formed by representatives of the funding agencies ✍️

This can be limited using “squeezing”, a technique manipulating light at the quantum level, effectively “cooling down” the relative movement of the mirrors to a few millionths of a degree above Absolute Zero

LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA constantly battle with quantum effects on their mirrors (objects weighing more than 40 kg!), such as quantum radiation pressure noise, that is, fluctuations of the laser field that causes the mirrors to jitter.

Even the extreme precision of the measurements required to detect gravitational waves explores and pushes the boundaries of the quantum world.

Quantum mechanics is an extraordinary theory which, more than a century after its initial formulation, continues to surprise us and whose consequences can still be explored in many areas of physics.

Congratulations to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis, awardees of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics “for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit”!

People of all ages got to learn about these extraordinary signals through which the universe tells its story and how we listen to them 👂

Barcelona, Rome, Paris, Warsaw, Madrid, Milan, Pisa, Olbia, Cascina, Bologna , L’Aquila, Napoli, Perugia, Trieste: these are only some of the cities where researchers of the Virgo Collaboration organized activities 🤯

Ondas gravitacionales, fal grawitacyjnych, ondes gravitationnelles, onde gravitazionali, everyone was talking about gravitational waves on European Researcher’s Night 🌊

📹 The video shows the then Virgo collaboration spokesperson Fulvio Ricci, @INFN_ researcher and professor at Sapienza University of Rome, announcing this important discovery, followed by the signal detected in September 2015.

On September 14th 2015, the @LIGO - Virgo Collaboration finally detected gravitational waves, ripples in the "fabric" of space-time produced by events such as the merger of two black holes. Today we are happy to celebrate the 10th anniversary of this sensational discovery!