gwosc

name	gwosc
description	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.

GWOSC Search and Download Skill

Search and download gravitational wave data from the Gravitational Wave Open Science Center (GWOSC).

Requires: requests (pip install requests)

What is GWOSC?

GWOSC provides open access to gravitational wave data from LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA:

• Detected event catalogs (GWTC)
• Event parameters (masses, spins, distances)
• Strain time series data
• Calibrated detector data

Basic Usage

# 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

Searching Events

# 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

Search Parameters

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

Strain Data

# 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/

Detectors

Code	Detector
H1	LIGO Hanford
L1	LIGO Livingston
V1	Virgo

Strain Formats

Format	Description
hdf5	HDF5 format (default)
gwf	Gravitational Wave Frame format
txt	Gzip-compressed text

Strain Durations

• 32 - 32 seconds around the event (default)
• 4096 - 4096 seconds for longer analysis

Event Parameters

When viewing an event, key parameters include:

• GPS Time: Event time in GPS seconds
• Mass 1/2: Component masses in solar masses
• Chirp Mass: Key mass parameter for waveform
• Effective Spin: Mass-weighted spin projection
• Luminosity Distance: Distance in Mpc
• Redshift: Cosmological redshift
• Network SNR: Combined signal-to-noise ratio
• False Alarm Rate: Statistical significance

Typical Workflow

1. Browse catalogs: python scripts/gwosc.py --catalogs
2. List events: python scripts/gwosc.py --list
3. Find events by criteria: python scripts/gwosc.py --min-mass1 30
4. Get event details: python scripts/gwosc.py GW190521
5. Check strain files: python scripts/gwosc.py GW190521 --strain
6. Download data: python scripts/gwosc.py GW190521 --download H1

Common Use Cases

Find Binary Black Hole Mergers

# High-mass BBH (stellar mass)
python scripts/gwosc.py --min-mass1 20 --min-mass2 10

# Intermediate mass
python scripts/gwosc.py --min-mass1 50

Find Nearby Events

# Events within 500 Mpc
python scripts/gwosc.py --max-distance 500

Get Data for Analysis

# 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/

API Notes

• No authentication required
• Data is openly available under CC-BY license
• Strain files can be large (especially 4096s)

See Also

• Python package: pip install gwosc for programmatic access
• PyCBC, Bilby, LALSuite for GW data analysis