Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory
Also known as LIGO
The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a large-scale physics experiment and observatory designed to detect cosmic gravitational waves. Prior to LIGO, all data about the universe has come in the form of light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation, from limited direct exploration on relatively nearby Solar System objects such as the Moon, Mars, Venus, Jupiter and their moons, asteroids etc, and from high energy cosmic particles. Initially, two large observatories were built in the United States with the aim of detecting gravitational waves by laser interferometr
AI overview
LIGO is a large-scale physics observatory in the United States designed to detect gravitational waves—ripples in space caused by cosmic events—using laser technology. This matters because it represents a completely new way to observe the universe beyond light and other forms of radiation that scientists have relied on until now.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Telescope.coords
- LIGO Hanford Observatory: LIGO Livingston Observatory:
- Telescope.locmapin
- no
- Telescope.location
- Hanford Site, Washington, and Livingston, Louisiana, US
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
21 sectionsContents
- History
- Background
- Observations begin
- Detections
- Mission
- Observatories
- Operation
- Noise
- Observations
- Enhanced LIGO
- Advanced LIGO
- Future
- LIGO-India
- A+
- LIGO Voyager
- Cosmic Explorer
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Further reading
- External links
The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a large-scale physics experiment and observatory designed to detect cosmic gravitational waves. Prior to LIGO, all data about the universe has come in the form of light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation, from limited direct exploration on relatively nearby Solar System objects such as the Moon, Mars, Venus, Jupiter and their moons, asteroids etc, and from high energy cosmic particles. Initially, two large observatories were built in the United States with the aim of detecting gravitational waves by laser interferometry. Two additional, smaller gravitational wave observatories are now operational in Japan (KAGRA) and Italy (Virgo). The two LIGO observatories use mirrors spaced apart to measure changes in length—over an effective span of —of less than one ten-thousandth the charge diameter of a proton.
The initial LIGO observatories were funded by the United States National Science Foundation (NSF). They were conceived, built, and are operated by Caltech and MIT. They collected data from 2002 to 2010, but no gravitational waves were detected during that period.
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