Using Gravitational Waves to Pinpoint Colliding Black Holes

Imagine watching birds in your backyard. You love birds and want to know when certain birds are there. Sure, you have your favorite binoculars to look for these birds—but what if you also listen for birds? Better yet, what if you use several microphones to determine the location and type of bird in your yard? This is what gravitational wave observatories add to the field of astronomy. Instead of just detecting electromagnetic waves (infrared, radio, visible, UV, X-ray), we can also detect gravitational waves.