OK, What do the graphics mean?
11 Nov 2004 2:50:34 UTC
Topic 187050
(moderation:
Workunits have started on each of my machines, and they both have constellations going around (I even recognize a few!), a big arc of purple dots, and some red ones, a red, green, and blue arrowhead, and what looks like a targeting crosshair in orange that moves with the search position.
We need a map legend! ;)
OK, What do the graphics mean?
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Hello genes,
please look here .
I am sure there will be follow more scientific explanations on this website in the future. But I agree, a legend like in the lhc@home application, or naming the detectors in the graphics would be nice.
Greetings from Bremen/Germany
Jens Seidler (TheBigJens)
I'll post a better
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I'll post a better explanation of the screensaver graphics in the near future. But here's a short summary:
The green and blue arms represent the three LIGO instruments (at just two sites) whose data we are currently analyzing. Blue is the two instruments (2km, 4km) in Hanford, Washington. (If you look closely at the blue arms you'll see that they are actually made up of a pair of arms: half-length and full-length.) Green is the 4km instrument in Livingston, Louisiana.
The red arms represent the GEO instrument (0.6km) in Hannover, Germany.
These detector arms are correctly oriented but are NOT to scale!
If you have set your system clock to the correct time, the instruments are shown in the correct relationship to the celestial sphere (constellations). If you watch over the period of a day you'll see that they move around the celestial sphere once in the space of 24 hours.
The purple dots represent the known pulsars, which have been detected electromagnetically. Notice that these are clustered in the plane of the Galaxy (the Milky Way), predominantly torwards the center of the Galaxy.
The red dots represent the know supernova remenants. These too are clustered towards the center of the Galaxy. Note that these are of particular interest because some of these supernovae may have left behind a pulsar or spinning neutron star.
Finally, the red bulls-eye circle and crosshairs, and the right acension and declination shown in the bottom right, indicate the current sky position being searched.
We'll add some more information to the graphics in the near future, but for the moment we're concentrating on getting the internals of the search working well!
By the way, if you go to the WORK tab and right click on a running job, you'll find a 'SHOW GRAPHICS' option. If you select this, you'll get a graphics window. Now, you can use the right and left mouse buttons (and scroll) to change the size and orientation of the celestial sphere.
Director, Einstein@Home
Thanks Bruce for the
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Thanks Bruce for the explanation and Jens for the cross-reference. I didn't think to look in the "questions and problems" area. Duh.
Will definitely have to play with the zooming, etc. when I get a few minutes. Very nice job so far!
Ok, but what will happen if I
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Ok, but what will happen if I find a new pulsar or neutron star?
RE: Ok, but what will
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It will be added to the collective knowledge of mankind, and studied further, and would probably be added to the sreensaver as another glowing dot.
microcraft
"The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice" - MLK
RE: Ok, but what will
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Have a look here for some information.
Director, Einstein@Home
I have always been confused
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I have always been confused by the moving red-bulls eye.
Aren't the detectors just passively waiting for a gravity wave to pass through them. How are they 'directed' to different points in the sky.
I am sure I am just mis-understanding something basic, but some enlightment would be appreciated.
Thanks!
RE: RE: Ok, but what will
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WHAT?? There's no 'finders fee'? I thought there was a big money bounty on these suckers. ;)
RE: I have always been
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Maybe this answer from Ben Owen might help.
Here's a tip. Try searching message titles for the word "ligo" and see what you get :).
Cheers,
Gary.
RE: I have always been
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The detector is not directed to different parts of the sky. But the data analysis is directed to different parts of the sky. The bulls eye shows where in the sky your computer is searching. I suggest that you see the S3 partial results report, linked to from the Einstein@Home front page, for more details.
Director, Einstein@Home