Something About LIGO(Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory)
LIGO is the world's largest gravitational wave observatory. It consists of two detectors. Each L-shaped facility has two arms positioned at right angles to each other . Lasers are beamed down each arm and bounced back by mirrors, essentially acting as a ruler for the arm. Sensitive detectors can tell if the length of the arms of a LIGO detector varies by as little as 1/10,000 the width of a proton, representing the incredibly small scale of the effects imparted by passing gravitational waves. LIGO has two observatories to act as a check on the other to rule out that a potential gravitational-wave signal detection is not due to a local, terrestrial disturbance; both facilities will detect a true gravitational wave moving at the speed of light nearly simultaneously. Although the twin LIGO facilities act as a single observatory, they are not designed for "observing" in the conventional sense. Instead of eyes, the facilities can be thought more of as "ears" listen...