Detection of gravitational waves from astrophysical sources

Modern ground-based gravitational-wave antennas designed to detect bursts of gravitational radiation from astrophysical catastrophes are described. Basic antenna characteristics, peculiarities of the noise background in antennas from various sources, and methods of their suppression are presented. The contribution from cosmic rays to the background is estimated. New programs of searching for low-frequency gravitational waves and potentialities for increasing the sensitivity of antennas of new types are briefly described.