Abstract Violent events in the Universe, where gravity is relativistically strong, should produce copious amounts of gravitational radiation. Examples are the collapse of a normal star to form a neutron star or a black hole (supernova explosion); the pulsations of a newborn black hole; the rapid rotation of a young, deformed neutron star; quakes and pulsations of neutron stars; collisions between neutron stars and between black holes in the centres of globular clusters and in the nuclei of galaxies. Such phenomena typically are obscured from the sight of electromagnetic telescopes by thick layers of surrounding matter. However, gravitational waves should pass through the surrounding matter unimpeded. Detailed measurements of such gravitational waves - if they can be made - will give detailed information about the dynamical motions of matter and of space-time curvature in violent cosmic events.