The status of KAGRA underground cryogenic gravitational wave telescope

Understand

KAGRA is a 3-km interferometric gravitational wave telescope located in the Kamioka mine in Japan.

• It is the first km-class gravitational wave telescope constructed underground to reduce seismic noise, and the first km-class telescope to use cryogenic cooling of test masses to reduce thermal noise.
• The construction of the infrastructure to house the interferometer in the tunnel, and the initial phase operation of the interferometer with a simple 3-km Michelson configuration have been completed.
• The first cryogenic operation is expected in 2018, and the observing runs with a full interferometer are expected in 2020s.