Researchers Confirm Einstein’s Theory , After Seeing Light ‘Echo’ Around Black Hole.
The new study was published July 28
in the journal 'Nature.'.
The study used the European Space Agency's (ESA) XMM-Newton and NASA's NuSTAR telescopes to see light from behind a black hole for the first time ever.
According to a statement
from the ESA, the black hole
is 800 million light-years away
in the spiral galaxy, I Zwicky 1.
It is also 10 million times
more massive than our sun.
Albert Einstein first predicted the light "echo" in his general theory of relativity in 1916.
Since light can't escape a black hole, its extreme gravity
bends space around it, allowing light to "echo" from behind the object as depicted in the following infographic:.
The team not only spotted an X-ray flare, but they also observed the light changing color as it bent.
The researchers intend to create a 3D map of the black hole's surroundings to aid in better understanding what
really takes place around these gravitational vortexes