Advanced LIGO subsystems
are the organizational units of the overall project. Follow the links below to view the mission and progress of each subsystem.
Auxiliary Optics | Core Optics |
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Data Acquisition | Data and Computing Systems |
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Facilities Modifications |
Input Optics |
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Interferometer Control |
Pre-Stabilized Laser |
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Seismic Isolation |
Suspensions |
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Advanced LIGO News
Gravitational Waves Detected
February 2016
On February 11, 2016, the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration announced the detection of gravitational wave signals from the inspiral and merger of a pair of black holes. The detection occurred on September 14, 2015 at the beginning of LIGO's O1 data run. Displaying the expected "chirp" behavior, meaning that it swept upward in amplitude and frequency, the signal, labeled GW150914, appeared in the data streams of both detectors near 30 Hz and rose to roughly 300 Hz in 0.2 second. The time separation between the signal's arrival in the L1 and H1 detectors was 7 milliseconds. The event would not have registered in LIGO's first-generation detectors; the fact that it appeared with striking clarity in both L1 and H1 indicates the leap in detector performance that the Advanced LIGO program has produced. The LIGO-Virgo Collaboration celebrates this milestone in astronomy and looks forward to a rich future of discoveries. Image: LIGO.
Read more at the LIGO Laboratory and LIGO Scientific Collaboration websites.
aLIGO News Archive
August 2016 -- LIGO Reports O1 Results
June 2016 -- Another Black Hole Merger
Feburary 2016 -- First Gravitational Wave Detection
November 2015 -- O1 Progress Report
August 2015 -- Final Preparations for the O1 Run
February 2015 -- Hanford's H1 Achieves Two-Hour Lock
July 2014 -- Livingston Commissioning Progress
June 2014 -- Livingston Locks the L1 Interferometer
December 2013 -- Livingston Installs End Station Payloads
September 2013 -- Half-interferometer Test Closes
June 2013 -- DRMI Test at Livingston
May 2013 -- Arm Length Stabilization
November 2012 -- One-arm Test at Hanford
September 2012 -- LIGO Begins Locking Optical Cavities
August 2012 -- Installation of Stray Light Controls
July 2012 -- Small Optic Suspenions Enter L1
April 2012 -- First Cartridges Enter the Vacuum
November 2011 -- Glass Fiber Suspensions in Production
October 2011 -- Continued Suspension Development
July 2011 -- Hanford's H2 Becomes a 4K
May 2011 -- LLO Laser Installation Completed
March 2011 -- Input and Output Tubes Undergo Removal
February 2011 -- New Laser Enclosure Takes Shape
December 2010 -- Initial LIGO Comes Out of the Vacuum
October 2010 -- S6 Yields to Advanced LIGO
Explore Advanced LIGO
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An Overview of the Upgrades
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