The Animated Tour of LIGO

This narrated animation provides an inside view of the function of the laser interferometer at LIGO as a gravitational wave passes through the detector, distorting the length of the 4km arms. This is the most detailed animation of LIGO ever created, built from the actual CAD drawings used to construct the massive astronomical observatory.
Made possible by a grant from the National Science Foundation (PHY-1404215) and Dr. Lynn Cominsky, Sonoma State University. Thank you Calum Torrie and Eduardo Sanchez at Caltech for providing the 3D files and your expert guidance.
Animation by Leonardo Buono. Narration by Jessica Straus. Edited by Kai Staats.