Einstein's dive zone: Black hole predictions confirmed by NASA
As early as 1915, Albert Einstein predicted the behaviour of matter as it approached a black hole. Scientists have observed a phenomenon for the first time that confirms the assumptions of the famous physicist from over a century ago.
19 May 2024 12:38
Albert Einstein was right about black holes. As reported by Interesting Engineering, scientists have observed a specific area around black holes known as the "dive zone." Albert Einstein predicted its existence in his general theory of relativity.
Scientists' observations indicate that in the dive zone, matter stops orbiting the black hole and falls straight into it at the speed of light. The study of dive zones may provide new information about the fundamental nature of spacetime.
Einstein predicted it
The behaviour of matter predicted by Einstein in 1915 in the face of approaching a black hole was, until now, just a forecast that could not be confirmed. However, the NuSTAR and NICER telescopes, which belong to NASA, allowed observations that confirmed dive zones existed.
A team of scientists led by the Department of Physics at Oxford made the discovery. They found that the zone exerts some of the most vital gravitational forces observed in the galaxy. The study focused on smaller black holes that are relatively close to Earth. X-ray data collected from the mentioned NuSTAR and NICER telescopes were utilised.
River and waterfall
- This is the first look at how plasma, peeled from the outer edge of a star, undergoes its final fall into the [center] of a black hole, a process happening in a system around 10,000 light years away. – says Dr. Andrew Mummery from Oxford University, who led the research.
- What is really exciting is that there are many black holes in the galaxy, and we now have a powerful new technique for using them to study the strongest known gravitational fields. – he adds.
Mummery emphasized how important the research findings are. He compared them to a river and a waterfall. – We have been looking at the river. This is our first sight of the waterfall – he concluded.
