The coalescing and ring-down takes a fraction of a second. The fraction of a second refers to the duration of the event. It does not mean they caught an event a

The coalescing and ring-down takes a fraction of a second. The fraction of a second refers to the duration of the event. It does not mean they caught an event a fraction of a second after they turned it on. Here's a better article: http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/gravitational-waves-exist-heres-how-scientists-finally-found-them http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/gravitational-waves-e...