Astronomy and astrophysics with gravitational waves in the advanced detector era

With the advanced gravitational wave detectors coming on line in the next 5 years, we expect to make the first detections of gravitational waves from astrophysical sources, and study the properties of the waves themselves as tests of general relativity. In addition, these gravitational waves will be powerful tools for the study of their astrophysical sources and source populations. They carry information that is quite complementary to what can be learned from electromagnetic or neutrino observations, probing the central gravitational engines that power the electromagnetic emissions at the outer layers of the source. Preparations are being made to enable near-simultaneous observations of both gravitational wave and electromagnetic observations of transient sources, using low-latency search pipelines and rapid sky localization. We will review the many opportunities for multi-messenger astronomy and astrophysics with gravitational waves enabled by the advanced detectors, and the preparations that are being made to quickly and fully exploit them. © 2012 IOP Publishing Ltd.