The Technology of LIGO: Putting the Observe in Observatory

The Laser Interferometric Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) started as a large-scale experiment to detect gravitational waves. In 2015, LIGO succeeded in this goal when it made the first direct detection of gravitational waves from a collision between two black holes. Since then over 100 gravitational waves have been detected, moving gravitational wave physics from the realm of experimentation to the field of astronomy. I will give a brief history of the LIGO detector, and a general overview of the technological advances that allowed it to become the gravitational wave observatory that it is today.LI