Gravitational Wave Events vs Relatively Simple

Receive alerts of Gravitational Wave Events from the LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA Collaboration (LVK) on your iPhone. This is an app for both the LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA Community and the general public. It provides low latency alerts using the Open Public Alerts currently being deployed by the Gamma-ray Coordinates Network (GCN) through GCN/LVK Notices (https://emfollow.docs.ligo.org/userguide/). To receive alerts using the app just select the category of alerts you wish to receive - it's that simple! The O4 observing run ended in November 2025. Intermediate Run 1 (IR1) is expected to start in late September, 2026. The app will download all IR1 events and counterparts as they are reported through a GCN Notice in addition to any related GCN Circulars. The app database is pre-populated with selected Notices and Circulars from all previous O1, O2, O3 and O4 events. The app retains Notices for one Mock Event reported through GCN for testing purposes. (For information on LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA Collaboration GCN Notices see: https://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/lvc.html .) Includes an interactive sky map showing the location of each event. The app also has a public Message exchange bulletin board and some interesting Links. The Links provide information on Gravitational Waves and the LIGO and Virgo observatories.

When people hear the term "Einstein's theory of Special Relativity", they automatically assume its above their heads. You hear terms like "Space Time" and the famous equation "e=mc^2" and it sounds way too abstract to understand for someone without a PhD in Physics. Designed by Carnegie Mellon University's Dr. Ira Rothstein, this app is aimed at experientially explaining Einstein's theory of special relativity to anybody.