{"id":21647,"date":"2020-04-16T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=21647"},"modified":"2020-04-15T10:30:12","modified_gmt":"2020-04-15T14:30:12","slug":"eso-star-orbiting-supermassive-black-hole-follows-path-predicted-by-einstein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=21647","title":{"rendered":"ESO: Star orbiting supermassive black hole follows path predicted by Einstein"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest ESO<\/a> (European Southern Observatory) report:<\/p>\n

ESO Telescope Sees Star Dance Around Supermassive Black Hole,
\nProves Einstein Right<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Observations made with ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have revealed for the first time that a star orbiting the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way moves just as predicted by Einstein\u2019s theory of general relativity. Its orbit is shaped like a rosette and not like an ellipse as predicted by Newton’s theory of gravity. This effect, known as Schwarzschild precession, had never before been measured for a star around a supermassive black hole. This artist\u2019s impression illustrates the precession of the star\u2019s orbit, with the effect exaggerated for easier visualisation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Observations made with ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have revealed for the first time that a star orbiting the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way moves just as predicted by Einstein\u2019s general theory of relativity. Its orbit is shaped like a rosette and not like an ellipse as predicted by Newton’s theory of gravity. This long-sought-after result was made possible by increasingly precise measurements over nearly 30 years, which have enabled scientists to unlock the mysteries of the behemoth lurking at the heart of our galaxy.<\/p>\n

\u201cEinstein\u2019s General Relativity predicts that bound orbits of one object around another are not closed, as in Newtonian Gravity, but precess forwards in the plane of motion. This famous effect \u2014 first seen in the orbit of the planet Mercury around the Sun \u2014 was the first evidence in favour of General Relativity. One hundred years later we have now detected the same effect in the motion of a star orbiting the compact radio source Sagittarius A* at the centre of the Milky Way. This observational breakthrough strengthens the evidence that Sagittarius A* must be a supermassive black hole of 4 million times the mass of the Sun,\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

says Reinhard Genzel, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) in Garching, Germany and the architect of the 30-year-long programme that led to this result.<\/p>\n