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The '''Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory''' ('''LIGO''') is a large-scale [[physics]] experiment and observatory designed to detect cosmic [[gravitational wave]]s and to develop gravitational-wave observations as an astronomical tool.<ref name="Physics_Today_Oct_1999">{{cite journal|last1=Barish|first1=Barry C.|last2=Weiss|first2=Rainer|title=LIGO and the Detection of Gravitational Waves|journal=Physics Today|date=October 1999|volume=52|issue=10|page=44|doi=10.1063/1.882861|bibcode = 1999PhT....52j..44B }}</ref> Two large observatories were built in the United States with the aim of detecting gravitational waves by [[laser]] [[interferometry]]. These observatories use mirrors spaced four kilometers apart which are capable of detecting a change of less than one ten-thousandth the [[charge radius|charge diameter]] of a [[proton]].<ref name="LIGO-Facts">{{cite web|title=Facts|url=https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/facts|website=LIGO|quote=This is equivalent to measuring the distance from Earth to the nearest star to an accuracy smaller than the width of a human hair!|access-date=24 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704030142/https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/facts|archive-date=4 July 2017|url-status=dead}} (that is, to [[Proxima Centauri]] at {{val|4.0208|e=13|u= km}}).</ref>
The initial LIGO observatories were funded by the [[National Science Foundation]] (NSF) and were conceived, built and are operated by [[Caltech]] and [[MIT]].<ref>{{cite web|title=LIGO Lab Caltech MIT|url=https://www.ligo.caltech.edu|access-date=24 June 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=LIGO MIT|url=http://space.mit.edu/LIGO|access-date=24 June 2016}}</ref> They collected data from 2002 to 2010 but no gravitational waves were detected.
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