LIGO

Last weekend the Physics and Astronomy Club went on a field trip to Hanford, WA to see LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory). I went on this trip last year also, but this year I drove instead of doing homework (no more contour integrals!). This year we did not get a chance to look at the equipment making up the interferometer, but we did get to see the control room and hear how the gravitational wave detection was going. There have been no signals yet, which is ok, since they don't expect to see any until their sensitivity improves. It was a good time and I was certainly not disappointed since the trip was worth it just for the Greek food we ate for lunch. Definitely a welcome distraction from studying for my E&M exam.

LIGO on Google Maps

Driving to LIGO

Greek food... Tasty!

x-arm of LIGO

Blue skies and tumbleweed(?)