What is LIGO, you ask.
LIGO stands for Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory
What do they do there & what is it that they are trying to prove??
Simple, they are trying to measure gravitational waves or ripples in the fabric of spacetime. First predicted by Einstein in his theory of general relativity, gravitational waves are produced by exotic events involving black holes, neutron stars and objects perhaps not yet discovered.
Uh, huh. Ask me to explain it in English... and I'll stumble through, so I won't even attempt it.
It does makes sense to me though and will to you if you ever do a tour that is offered twice per month!! OR I have it on good authority that people can also call up if they want a personalized tour, and usually they can make something happen.
When driving to the site you feel as if you are driving to the middle of nowhere & there is not going to be anything there when you arrive. This is all necessary though, to keep the noise from traffic & everyday life in a city from affecting their equipment and ability to measure the gravitational waves.
What is their equipment?? Well, to put it briefly. It consists of two tubes 4 km long that they beam a laser through, the laser hits a mirror and comes back.
If there are no gravitational waves being caused, then the waves of the laser (going & coming) will cancel each other out.
If there is a gravitational wave being caused there is going to be a difference between the two (going & coming) that can be measured, showing a gravitational wave.
Think that is the simple way of putting it.
Now that we've all gotten our physics lesson.
If you are into this sort of stuff, I would HIGHLY suggest going on a tour. Seriously, they are thinking that it possibly could prove the Big Bang Theory one of these days.
The only negative is that it is soo close to Hanford, the nuclear site. It is within eye sight.
Definitely explains why I was glowing all the way home & I got such weird looks when walking into places. read more