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Kilometer-long laser arms
 At the start of the 70s, the laser interferometer was identified as an instrument that could be used to directly detect gravitational waves.
Based on the Michelson principle a number of Earth based laser interferometric detectors with long baselines have been constructed and are under continuous development.
 VIRGO
A French-Italian project with a 3000 m detector located near Pisa, Italy.
TAMA
A Japanese project with a 300 m detector in Tokyo, Japan.
LIGO
A US project with a 4000 m detector at Livingston, Louisiana ( LIGO Livingston) and a second site at Hanford, Washington ( LIGO Hanford) with a 4000 m detector plus a half length 2000 m detector in a single vacuum system.
GEO 600
 A German-British collaboration with a 600 m detector located near Hannover, Germany.
GEO is operated by the Max-Planck-Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert-Einstein-Institut) in collaboration with the IGR in Glasgow, the Leibniz Universität Hannover and Cardiff University.
LISA
Because of the disturbances introduced by seismic vibrations, the frequency range below 1 Hz can never be observed on Earth. However, some of the most spectacular sources of gravitational waves, like supermassive black holes with masses of millions of suns, generate signals in the millihertz range. Thus, they have wavelengths of a few million kilometers. On earth it is impossible to build receivers on this scale, but in space there is enough room, an ideal vacuum and no seismic background. Therefore, the joint ESA and NASA mission LISA will launch an interferometer into space.
 Gravitational waves - Waves in space-time (back to Gravitational waves main page)
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