SPECIAL PHYSICS COLLOQUIUM: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger

On September 14, 2015 at 9:50:45 UTC the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) simultaneously observed a transient gravitational-wave signal. The detected waveform indicates the inspiral and merger of a pair of massive black holes about 1.3 billion years ago and the ring down of the resulting single black hole. This discovery marks the first direct detection  of gravitational waves and the first observation of a binary black hole merger. The signal detection and the inferred properties of its source will be presented.