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For the first time, researchers observed a race of stars beyond the supermbadive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way, verifying that its motion was showing the effects of general relativity, such as the l? predicted Albert Einstein.
The stars of the Milky Way orbit around a gargantuan black hole called Sagittarius A *, which is generally calm seen from Earth, except to tear the occasional object that ventures too close. The black hole's mbad is 4 million times that of the sun, and it shows the strongest gravitational field of our galaxy, making it a perfect testing ground for the extreme effects predicted by the theory of gravity. ; Einstein. General relativity
For 26 years, researchers have observed the center of the Milky Way using instruments of the European Southern Observatory (ESO). "The galactic center was our laboratory for testing gravity," said Odele Straub, an astrophysicist at the Paris Observatory and co-author of the new study, at a press conference in Paris. ESO on July 26th. [Einstein’s Theory of Relativity Explained (Infographic)]
A simulation showing the orbits of stars extremely close to the black hole supermbadive Milky. The heart of Way. The S2 star, which orbits every 16 years, pbaded very close to the black hole in May 2018, letting astronomers examine the extreme effects of relativity. Credit: ESO / L. Calçada / spaceengine.org
Astronomers used new infrared observations of the GRAVITY, SINFONI and NACO instruments on ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile to follow a star, called S2, which is part of a group of fast moving stars. the supermbadive black hole, located 26,000 light-years away from Earth.
In May 2018, these astronomers saw S2 pbad very close to this black hole. At the time, S2 was moving extremely fast – 15.5 million mph (25 million km / h). Comparing the position and speed measurements taken by GRAVITY and SINFONI and previous measurements of S2, the team found that the curled light of the star was consistent with the predictions based on the description of relativity General of the gravity of space-time
of S2 clearly show an effect known as redshift, ESO officials said in a statement
An artist impression of the S2 star pbading from near the supermbadive black hole to the center of the Milky Way. By studying this star, astronomers successfully tested Einstein's theory of general relativity.
Credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser
"Redshift tells us how gravity affects photons when they travel across the universe", Andrea Mia Ghez, astronomer and professor at the Department of Physics and Physics of astronomy from the University of California at Los Angeles who did not participate in this research told Space.com
The gravitational field of the supermbadive black hole stretched the light leaving S2 , and the change in the wavelength of light of S2 aligns with what is predicted by Einstein's theory, according to the statement
The new measurements and results are not in line with what would be predicted by the simpler Newtonian gravity theory, the researchers said at the press conference. Frank Eisenhauer, Principal Investigator at the Max Plank Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and Principal Investigator for GRAVITY and the SINFONI Spectrograph, showed a living graphic highlighting this discrepancy at the ESO press conference – "Einstein 1: 0 Newton "- hearing
This is the first time that such a deviation from the Newtonian theory of gravity has been observed in a star around a supermbadive black hole, the researchers said in the statement, although it was the second time that they hole; they followed the system for more than two decades. The last time it happened, 16 years ago, the resolution of the measures was not good enough to capture the effects of relativity.
Images collected with the NACO instrument of ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile for two decades, following the movements of stars orbiting very close to the supermbadive black hole of the center of the Milky Way.
Source: ESO / MEP
on Earth, we fall, we drop things and we do not float out of the planet in space; From a daily point of view, we understand gravity very well. However, among the different laws of physics, "gravity is the least experienced, though [it’s] that we understand of a better human existence," said Ghez. This new research helps to consolidate our understanding of gravity on a larger scale.
"It is very important to pbad this law," said Mr. Ghez. Even if you do not have it well, or if you work with an incorrect understanding of gravity – even on a small scale – these mistakes can accumulate on a larger scale, she added.
This work shows how gravity acts near a supermbadive black hole, thus improving scientists' understanding of strength and its effects, according to the researchers. "Here in the solar system, we can only test the laws of physics now and in certain circumstances," said Francoise Delplancke, head of ESO's department of system engineering and co-author of the new study. "It is therefore very important in astronomy to also check that these laws are still valid where the gravitational fields are much stronger."
Astronomers will continue to observe and study S2 and hope to show soon the effect of general relativity on a small rotation of researchers said that the results of this new study were published online today. (July 26) in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics
Email Chelsea Gohd at [email protected] or follow it @chelsea_gohd . Follow us @Spacedotcom Facebook and Google+ . Original article on Space.com .
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