Where is the headquarters of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)?
Quick Answer
LIGO’s headquarters are at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. Its two detector sites are far apart, in Hanford, Washington, and Livingston, Louisiana.
The Full Story
The LIGO Scientific Collaboration is headquartered at Caltech in Pasadena, California. The observatory’s two 4-kilometer interferometers are located in Hanford, Washington, and Livingston, Louisiana, to help distinguish real gravitational-wave signals from local noise. LIGO made the first direct detection of gravitational waves in 2015, confirming a major prediction of Einstein’s general relativity. That discovery opened a new way of observing the universe.
Key Facts
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Suggested video title for this topic:
"Two detectors, 3,000 km apart, heard the universe collide."
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