Home▸Space & Astronomy▸LISA vs LIGO: Why Gravitational-Wave Detectors Need a Space-Scale Baseline

🛰️ LISA vs LIGO: Why Gravitational-Wave Detectors Need a Space-Scale Baseline

Compare a LIGO-scale ground interferometer against a LISA-scale space triangle responding to the same gravitational wave — slide the source frequency and see why only the space-based baseline can detect very low frequencies.

Space & Astronomy3DAdvanced60 FPS🌍 Earth

Details

CategorySpace & Astronomy

RenderingThree.js · WebGL

DifficultyAdvanced

Target FPS60

ControlsFrequency slider (log scale, µHz to kHz) sets the simulated gravitational-wave source frequency; source-strength slider scales the strain amplitude; preset buttons jump to a LISA-band supermassive-black-hole-merger frequency or a LIGO-band stellar-mass-merger frequency; Play/Pause toggles the animation; orbit-drag each 3D viewport to rotate.

Three.jsgravitational wavesLISALIGOlaser interferometryspace telescopebaseline length

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⚙ Under the hood

Compare a LIGO-scale 4 km ground interferometer against a LISA-scale 2.5-million-km space triangle responding to the same simulated gravitational wave. Slide the source frequency and watch the ground detector's signal vanish below its seismic noise floor at low frequencies while the space-based triangle keeps a clear, measurable fringe shift — showing why baseline length sets a detector's accessible frequency band.

Three.jsgravitational wavesLISALIGOlaser interferometryspace telescopebaseline length

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install