Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity Continues to Prove Its Worth, 108 Years After Its Official Publication.
After nearly three decades of observing S2 – the star closest to the massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy – scientists have finally detected slight changes in the distant celestial object’s orbit.
S2 travels in an elliptical orbit that lasts over 15 years and approached the massive black hole Sagittarius A* at the end of last year; specifically, S2 was only 20 billion kilometers away from Sagittarius A*. If Isaac Newton’s gravitational laws were correct, S2 would maintain its orbit from its previous pass. However, this did not occur in reality.
The orbits of S2 create a “spirograph” pattern in space.
According to scientists’ observations, S2 has deviated from its orbit of 16 years ago, with the elliptical axis (formed by S2’s orbit) slightly shifted. These details are outlined in a report by a team from the Very Large Telescope Observatory, published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
The orbit of S2 and other stars around the black hole Sagittarius A* – Video: European Southern Observatory (ESO).
In the framework of general relativity, the phenomenon creating this curved trajectory is scientifically termed the “Schwarzschild geodesic,” named after the astrophysicist Karl Schwarzschild, who made significant contributions to the interpretation of general relativity.
Due to the influence of the massive black hole, the new trajectory of star S2 creates a “spirograph” shape as depicted in the video below, further confirming that the theory of relativity holds true!
ESO’s artist illustrating the path of star S2 – (Video: ESO).
Scientists assert that tracking the trajectory of S2 allows them to delve deeper into the invisible materials often overlooked, including smaller black holes and dark matter, that exist around Sagittarius A*. In doing so, we can gain a better understanding of how black holes grow over time.
