Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity

Yet another test for general relativity; yet another “A” for Einstein

5 July 2018 Astronomy Now

In yet another success for Einstein’s theory of general relativity, astronomers studying the motions of a triple star system have again confirmed that objects fall at the same rate regardless of mass or composition.

Hint of relativity effects in stars orbiting centre of galaxy

10 August 2017 Astronomy Now

A new analysis of data from ESO’s Very Large Telescope and other telescopes suggests that the orbits of stars around the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way may show the subtle effects predicted by Einstein’s general theory of relativity.

A new ‘Einstein ring’ is discovered

2 June 2016 Astronomy Now

This unusual phenomenon, predicted by Einstein’s theory of General Relativity, was discovered by chance by doctoral student Margherita Bettinelli at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias while analysing images of the Sculptor dwarf galaxy. The “Canarias Einstein ring” is one of the most symmetrical discovered until now and is almost circular.

First light for future black hole probe

13 January 2016 Astronomy Now

Zooming in on black holes is the main mission for the newly installed GRAVITY instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile. During its first observations, GRAVITY successfully combined starlight using all four 1.8-metre Auxiliary Telescopes. The first observations using GRAVITY with the four 8-metre VLT Unit Telescopes are planned for later in 2016.

Royal Astronomical Society’s National Astronomy Meeting 2015 – report 2

7 July 2015 Astronomy Now

In his second report from the Royal Astronomical Society’s National Astronomy Meeting 2015, Kulvinder Singh Chadha ponders the nature of dark matter and whether cosmic jets — jets of material from active galaxies travelling close to the speed of light — may correlate with dense regions of dark matter in the Universe.

Space observatories find missing clue to galaxy cluster formation

2 April 2015 Astronomy Now

Astronomers using the Herschel Space Observatory and Plank satellite, plus University of Arizona observatories, discover likely precursors of the galaxy clusters we see today and reveal glimpses into how galaxies like our Milky Way came to be.