Ligo 5th Science Run ( S-5 ), Gravity Wave Study Options

[The Messenger]

http://www.ligo.caltech.edu/NSF/related/charge.pdf

Excellent progress continues in eliminating noise sources and increasing detector stability. With the replacement of a somewhat lossy input test mass on the Hanford 4-km x-arm, all three interferometers should now be capable of achieving design sensitivity (approximately 14 Mpc range for the canonical NS-NS inspiral for the 4-km IFOs, approximately 7 Mpc range for the 2-km IFO). Currently, the 4-km IFOs have demonstrated sensitivities in the 11 MPc range and the 2-km IFO in the 4.5-MPc range. S-5 is expected to start on November 4th, 2005 with all three IFOs operating very close to design sensitivity.

Michelson & Morley enter the 21st century...

LIGO Home: http://www.ligo.caltech.edu/

[edstrick]

It's REALLY good news that LIGO is up to about it's orignially promised performance.

The bad news is that unless we're quite lucky, there won't be a strong enough signal to be detected till the second generation upgrades. We COULD be lucky... cross fingers... and there COULD be surprise sources that aren't on the "expected population of signals list".... But we can't count on that.

But getting to first generation successfully is mandatory to go on from there.