The Laser Interferometer Graviational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a sensitive instrument built for the express purpose of detecting gravitational waves from distant merging black holes. Supported by the National Science Foundation, it was designed to open the field of gravitational-wave astrophysics through the direct detection of gravitational waves predicted by Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. Its multi-kilometer-scale gravitational wave detectors use laser interferometry to measure the minute ripples in space-time caused by passing gravitational waves from cataclysmic cosmic events such as colliding neutron stars or black holes, or by supernovae. LIGO comprises two widely-separated interferometers within the United States—one in Hanford, Washington and the other in Livingston, Louisiana—operated in unison to detect gravitational waves. It is largely supported by scientists at Caltech and MIT.
LIGO
