Use when the user mentions 'GWOSC', 'gravitational waves', 'LIGO', 'Virgo', or asks to find gravitational wave events, get event parameters, or download strain data. GWOSC provides open data from gravitational wave detectors.
Search and download gravitational wave data from the Gravitational Wave Open Science Center (GWOSC).
Requires: requests (pip install requests)
GWOSC provides open access to gravitational wave data from LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA:
# List available catalogs
python scripts/gwosc.py --catalogs
# List events from GWTC
python scripts/gwosc.py --list
# List events from a specific catalog
python scripts/gwosc.py --list O3_Discovery_Papers
# Get event details
python scripts/gwosc.py GW150914
# Get specific version
python scripts/gwosc.py GW150914 --version 3
# Search by primary mass range
python scripts/gwosc.py --min-mass1 20 --max-mass1 50
# Search for nearby events
python scripts/gwosc.py --max-distance 500
# Search by SNR threshold
python scripts/gwosc.py --min-snr 20
# Combined search
python scripts/gwosc.py --min-mass1 30 --max-distance 1000 --min-snr 15
# Limit results
python scripts/gwosc.py --min-mass1 10 -n 5
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
--min-mass1, --max-mass1 | Primary mass range (M_sun) |
--min-mass2, --max-mass2 | Secondary mass range (M_sun) |
--min-distance, --max-distance | Luminosity distance range (Mpc) |
--min-snr | Minimum network SNR |
# List available strain files for an event
python scripts/gwosc.py GW150914 --strain
# Download 32s strain from Hanford
python scripts/gwosc.py GW150914 --download H1
# Download 4096s strain from Livingston in GWF format
python scripts/gwosc.py GW150914 --download L1 --duration 4096 --format gwf
# Download to specific directory
python scripts/gwosc.py GW150914 --download H1 -o ./data/
| Code | Detector |
|---|---|
| H1 | LIGO Hanford |
| L1 | LIGO Livingston |
| V1 | Virgo |
| Format | Description |
|---|---|
hdf5 | HDF5 format (default) |
gwf | Gravitational Wave Frame format |
txt | Gzip-compressed text |
32 - 32 seconds around the event (default)4096 - 4096 seconds for longer analysisWhen viewing an event, key parameters include:
python scripts/gwosc.py --catalogspython scripts/gwosc.py --listpython scripts/gwosc.py --min-mass1 30python scripts/gwosc.py GW190521python scripts/gwosc.py GW190521 --strainpython scripts/gwosc.py GW190521 --download H1# High-mass BBH (stellar mass)
python scripts/gwosc.py --min-mass1 20 --min-mass2 10
# Intermediate mass
python scripts/gwosc.py --min-mass1 50
# Events within 500 Mpc
python scripts/gwosc.py --max-distance 500
# Download strain for parameter estimation
python scripts/gwosc.py GW150914 --download H1 --duration 4096 -o ./strain/
python scripts/gwosc.py GW150914 --download L1 --duration 4096 -o ./strain/
pip install gwosc for programmatic access