Star orbiting black hole confirms theory of relativity

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Astronomers Confirm Einstein’s Theory of Relativity By Watching a Star Orbit a Black Hole

Astronomers watched as a star passed within 12 billion miles of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way and reached a speed of 15 million miles per hour.

by Daniel Oberhaus
Jul 27 2018

According to Einstein’s theory, strong gravitational fields should stretch out the wavelength of light from stars within the field. This phenomenon is known as gravitational redshift because the longer wavelengths make the starlight appear redder.

When S2 made its closest pass in May it was 12.4 billion miles from the black hole and moving at over 15 million miles per hour, or bout 3 percent of the speed of light. During the pass, ESO astronomers observed a strong redshift in S2’s light. The redshift agreed precisely with the values predicted by Einstein’s general theory of relativity.