Welcome to the LIGO HANFORD OBSERVATORY home page. The LIGO acronym stands for Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, whose mission is to observe gravitational waves of cosmic origin. LIGO searches for gravitational waves created in the supernova collapse of stellar cores to form neutron stars or black holes, the collisions and coalescences of neutron stars or black holes, the wobbly rotation of neutron stars with deformed crusts and the remnants of gravitational radiation created by the birth of the universe. LIGO is operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for the National Science Foundation (NSF).

LIGO observatory facilities in Hanford, WA (see photo above) and Livingston, LA house laser interferometers, consisting of mirrors suspended at each of the corners of a gigantic L-shaped vacuum system, measuring 4 kilometers (2-1/2 miles) on a side. Precision laserbeams in the interferometers will sense small motions of the mirrors that are caused by a gravitational wave. Commissioning of these interferometers is ongoing and observing runs began in 2002.