Posted by:
Amyjo
(
)
Date: July 28, 2019 08:16PM
This made the news this past week regarding a supermassive black hole near the center of our galaxy:
"By analyzing the extraordinarily strong gravitational pull of the giant black hole at the center of the Milky Way on a star near it, astronomers have shown that Einstein's ideas about space and time still hold true as the best description yet of how gravity works.
According to Einstein's theory of general relativity, gravity results from how mass warps space and time. The greater an object's mass, the stronger its gravitational pull.
Scientists have largely tested general relativity's predictions in relatively weak gravitational fields, such as those on Earth and in the solar system. In the presence of much stronger gravitational fields — such as those of the supermassive black holes thought to lurk in the hearts of virtually all large galaxies — researchers might discover violations of general relativity that could lead to new theories that might help explain cosmic mysteries such as dark matter and dark energy.
"Einstein's right, at least for now," said Andrea Ghez, a co-lead author of the research and astronomy professor at the University of California Los Angeles, in a statement. "Our observations are consistent with Einstein’s theory of general relativity. However, his theory is definitely showing vulnerability. It cannot fully explain gravity inside a black hole, and at some point we will need to move beyond Einstein's theory to a more comprehensive theory of gravity that explains what a black hole is."
Move over Beethoven! Einstein's theory of relativity is beginning to show signs of wear!
https://www.space.com/supermassive-black-hole-gravity-einstein-relativity.html