LIGO: The Dawn of Gravitational Wave Astronomy

Scientists have been searching for the elusive gravitational wave for more than half a century. On September 14, 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) finally observed the gravitational wave signature from the merger of two black holes. This detection marks the dawn of a new age of gravitational wave astronomy, where we routinely hear the sounds emanating from deep within the most energetic events in the Universe. This talk will cover the events leading up to one of the most important discoveries of the last century, and the myriad of ways in which Python enabled the effort.