Ripples in spacetime
Chapter 1
Einstein's wild prediction
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Chapter 2
The ultimate measuring sticks
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Chapter 3
The day the universe trembled
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Chapter 4
The future of wave hunting
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YOUR GOAL
Master of Ripples in spacetime
Ch 2 · The ultimate measuring sticks
teacher We catch the ripples as the stars collide, Sensing a shift smaller than a proton wide.
Fun Fact
LIGO's extreme vacuum: The air pressure inside LIGO's giant beam tubes is reduced to one-trillionth of an atmosphere, making it one of the largest pure vacuum chambers on Earth.
Glossary
laser (noun)
A device that produces an intense, narrow beam of coherent monochromatic light. In 2015, LIGO used highly stable lasers to detect cosmic ripples from a binary black hole merger.
A device that produces an intense, narrow beam of coherent monochromatic light. In 2015, LIGO used highly stable lasers to detect cosmic ripples from a binary black hole merger.
Quiz
What instrument does LIGO use to measure the microscopic changes in its arm lengths?
Quiz
By what fraction of a proton's width does a typical gravitational wave change LIGO's arm length?
Quiz
Why does the LIGO experiment require at least two separate detectors in the United States?