It is an amazing discovery 30-40 years in the making!
Steven in post
36 explains it right.
Some more info:
A nice visual explanation is given here:
http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php?f=1853
A nice public/outreach science summary can be found here:
https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/system/...ce-summary.pdf
An overview of the Australian contribution can be found here:
http://www.aciga.org.au/news/australian-contribution
A nice visual and audible youtube clip of the actual event is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egfB...ature=youtu.be
More detailed information (and photos/figures) can be found here:
https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/detection
cheers,
Bram