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
LIGO Detects Another Black Hole Merger
June 2016
On June 15, 2016, LIGO announced the second detection of a gravitational wave signal, GW151226, from the inspiral and merger of a pair of black holes. The detection occurred on December 26, 2015 near the conclusion of LIGO's O1 data run. The signal showed the characteristic "chirp" behavior that the LIGO-Virgo collaboration observed in the previous detection, GW150914; the signal dynamics and the mass estimates of the merging bodies point to black holes. Unlike the black hole merger GW150914, which appeared in LIGO's detectors for about eight wave cycles over a fraction of a second In September 2015, GW151226 persisted for 55 wave cycles that spanned approximately one second. The signal produced a network signal-to-noise ratio of 13. It was identified within 70 seconds of arrival by an online matched-filter search that targets binary coalescences.
Read more at the LIGO Laboratory and LIGO Scientific Collaboration websites. (Image credit: SXS Collaboration/www.black-holes.org.)
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
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