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An artist's impression shows S2 traveling near the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way.
(ESO / M. Kornmesser)
For the first time, researchers observed a race of stars beyond the supermassive black hole in the heart of the Milky Way, verifying that its motion was showing the effects of general relativity, such as the l? predicted Albert Einstein. of the Milky Way orbit around a gargantuan black hole called Sagittarius A *, usually calm seen from Earth, except to tear the occasional object that ventures too close. The black hole's mass 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 been observing the center of the Milky Way using instruments from the Southern European Observatory (ESO). "The galactic center was our laboratory for testing gravity," said Odele Straub, astrophysicist at the Paris Observatory and co-author of the new study at an ESO press conference July 26th. [Einstein’s Theory of Relativity Explained (Infographic)]
Astronomers used GRAVITY, SINFONI and NACO instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile to follow a star, known as S2, which is part of a group of people. stars in orbit around the supermassive black hole, located 26,000 light-years away from Earth. More from Space.com
In May 2018, these astronomers saw S2 pass 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 Gravity of Space-Time
"Redshift tells us how gravity affects photons when they travel across the universe," says Andrea Mia Ghez, astronomer and professor in the Department of physics and physics. Astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles who was not involved in this research says Space.com
The gravitational field of supermassive black hole stretched light leaving S2, and change S2's light wavelength is in line with what is predicted by Einstein's theory, according to the statement.
The new measurements and the results do not agree with what would be predicted by simp ler, the Newtonian theory of gravity, 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 "- public.
This is the first time that such a deviation from the Newtonian theory of gravity has been observed in a star around a supermassive black hole, say the researchers, even though it was the second time that they were watching S2 around the black 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.
As human beings on Earth, we fall, we drop things and we do not go out of the planet. in the space; From a daily point of view, we understand gravity very well. However, from the different laws of physics, "gravity is the least tested, 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 pass 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 be accumulated on a larger scale, she added.
This book shows how gravity acts near a supermassive black hole, thus improving scientists' understanding of the 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 The researchers said that the results of this new study were published online July 26 in the Astronomy & Astrophysics review.
Chelsea Gohd at cgohd @ space.com e-mail address or follow @chelsea_gohd. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. The original article on Space.com .
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