The acronym, LIGO, stands for "Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory". Wholly supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, LIGO is the world's largest gravitational wave observatory and a marvel of precision engineering.

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a large-scale physics experiment and observatory designed to detect cosmic gravitational waves and to develop gravitational-wave observations as an astronomical tool. [1]

How will LIGO know that a signal in the data really came from an event in space? Can you ever be 100% certain, even when multiple labs measure the same vibration? LIGO uses several techniques to sift through the din of vibrational noise to confirm a gravitational wave detection. Some of these are:

Oct 23, 2023 · LIGO researchers at MIT, Caltech, and elsewhere report a significant advance in quantum squeezing, which allows them to measure undulations in space-time across the entire range of gravitational frequencies detected by LIGO.

Apr 17, 2023 · LIGO is operated by the LIGO Laboratory, a consortium of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Funded by the National Science Foundation, LIGO is an international resource for both physics and astrophysics.

Jan 8, 2021 · LIGO—which consists of twin detectors located in Washington and Louisiana—now has a combined increase in sensitivity of about 40 percent over its last run, which means that it can survey an even larger volume of space than before for powerful, wave-making events, such as the collisions of black holes.

Sep 29, 2021 · Now, a new study by the LIGO team describes a new type of mirror coating made of titanium oxide and germanium oxide and outlines how it can reduce background noise in LIGO's mirrors by a factor of two, thereby increasing the volume of space that LIGO can probe by a factor of eight.

Feb 11, 2025 · LIGO is designed to detect the gravitational waves released when two neutron stars or black holes spiral into each other or when a stellar core collapses and causes a Type II supernova. Each installation of LIGO is an L-shaped laser interferometer with arms 4 …

Oct 25, 2023 · These gravitational waves require immensely sensitive equipment to detect, and scientists from Caltech recently implemented a “frequency-dependent quantum squeezing” technique to push LIGO...

Oct 27, 2023 · Earth’s premier gravitational wave detector just received a major upgrade that will significantly improve its ability to spot ripples in the fabric of space and time — undulations created by...