The first image of a black hole supports Einstein’s theory of...

After about 100 years on the theory Albert Einstein And new astronomical discoveries, it seems that the notion that gravity is a distorted substance Space-timeIt will last for a long time, according to a study published Thursday in the journal “Physical Review Letters.”

The researchers from the “Event Horizon Observatory” astronomical team, the team that photographed Black hole The central galaxy “M87” last year, by analyzing the so-called “shadow” of a black hole.

It is worth noting that black holes do not cast a shadow in the usual sense because they are not blocking solid objects the light From passing through, according to what CNN reported.

Instead, black holes interact with light a little differently but create a similar effect. A black hole can pull light towards itself, and while light cannot escape from inside the black hole, it is possible for the light to escape in a region around the event horizon, or the point of no return, and here this interstitial space can appear as a shadow.

because of black holes It has such tremendous gravity, which acts on the curvature of space-time, so it can actually act like a magnifier that makes the “black hole shadow” appear larger than it is.

The research team measured this distortion and found that the size of this black hole’s shadow corresponds to Theory of relativity Or matter that distorts space-time to create gravity.

“This is really just the beginning,” said co-author Leah Medeiros, postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in New Jersey. “We have now shown that it is possible to use an image of a black hole to test the theory. gravity… this test will be more powerful once we visualize the black hole in the center of our galaxy. “

Now that researchers know that they can use images of black holes to test the theory of gravity, it opens up more possibilities for the future.

Demetrius Psaltis, lead author of the study and professor of astrophysics at the University of Arizona, said in a statement: Gravitational wavesThis marks the beginning of a new era in black hole astrophysics. “

While the theory of relativity has passed all the tests that have been conducted on it to date, more study is needed to confirm whether it will continue to conform to astrophysical objects.

“For the first time, we have a different scale with which we can perform a test 500 times better, and this scale is the size of the black hole’s shadow .. When we get an image of the black hole at the center of our galaxy, we can,” said co-author and professor of astrophysics at the University of Arizona, Ferial Ozil. Deviations from general relativity are further restricted. “