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This is a fisheye view of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) input optics. On Sept. 14, 2015, at 5:51 a.m. EDT (09:51 UTC), for the first time, scientists observed ripples in the fabric of spacetime, called gravitational waves, arriving at Earth from a cataclysmic event in the distant universe.
This confirmed a major prediction of Albert Einstein's 1915 general theory of relativity and opens an unprecedented new window to the cosmos. The gravitational waves were detected by both of the twin Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors, located in Livingston, Louisiana, and Hanford, Washington. The LIGO observatories are funded by the National Science Foundation, and were conceived, built and are operated by the California Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Image credit: LIGO Laboratory
