Maunakea Observatories Put Einstein to the Test
Aloha to our scientific colleagues around the world
July 20, 2019
Subaru Telescope Probes the Outer Reaches of our Milky Way Galaxy
August 1, 2019
An artist visualization of the star S0-2 as it passes by the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Center. As the star gets closer to the supermassive black hole, it causes a gravitational redshift that is predicted by Einstein's General Relativity. By observing this redshift, we can test Einstein's theory of gravity. (Credit: NICOLLE R. FULLER, NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION)
An international team of astronomers have combined the power of three telescopes on Maunakea (Keck, Subaru, and Gemini) to test Einstein’s one hundred-year-old theory of General Relativity in an unprecedented new regime. General Relativity proposes that massive objects, like supermassive black holes, distort both space and time, which in turn affects the motions of objects around them. Therefore, to test this theory, these astronomers observed a single star orbiting around the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy, Sag A*. This star, named S0-2, moves around the black hole at a blistering 16 million miles per hour, and takes 16 years to complete one orbit. Through years of patient observing, and the state-of-the-art technology on these Maunakea telescopes, these astronomers were able to map the motion of this star and confirm that Einstein’s theory holds true.
Read more on press releases from W.M. Keck Observatory, Subaru Telescope, Gemini Observatory, and University of California Los Angeles.
