Astronomers Observe Spacetime Whirlpool for the First Time
SMRTR summary
A star ventures too close to a massive black hole and gets "spaghettified"—stretched and shredded like cosmic pasta by gravitational forces so intense they defy imagination. But this stellar death, observed by astronomers studying an event called AT2020afhd, revealed something extraordinary: the black hole was spinning so rapidly it dragged the very fabric of spacetime with it, creating a whirlpool in reality itself.
The discovery came when scientists noticed that radio waves and X-rays from the star's remains were wobbling in perfect unison. This synchronized dance provided the first direct evidence of something called Lense-Thirring precession, a phenomenon predicted by Einstein's relativity over a century ago but never before witnessed.
"Our study shows the most compelling evidence yet of Lense-Thirring precession—a black hole dragging space time along with it in much the same way that a spinning top might drag the water around it in a whirlpool," said study author Cosimo Inserra from Cardiff University.
The findings, published in Science Advances, offer a rare glimpse into one of Einstein's strangest predictions becoming observable reality.
SMRTR provides this summary for quick context. The original article belongs to Nautilus.
Read the original article