GRAVITY tagged posts

Astronomers use Empty Space to study the Universe

This simulation of the large-scale structure of the universe reveals the cosmic web of galaxies and the vast, empty regions known as voids. Credit: Image by Nico Hamaus, Universitäts-Sternwarte München, courtesy of The Ohio State University

This simulation of the large-scale structure of the universe reveals the cosmic web of galaxies and the vast, empty regions known as voids. Credit: Image by Nico Hamaus, Universitäts-Sternwarte München, courtesy of The Ohio State University

A lot of information contained in cosmic voids, study suggests. An international team of astronomers reports that they were able to achieve 4X better precision in measurements of how the universe’s visible matter is clustered together by studying the empty spaces in between. Researchers looking for new ways to probe gravity and dark energy adopted a new strategy: looking at what’s not there.

Paul Sutter, Ohio State University, said that the new measurements can help bring astronomers closer to testing Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which des...

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Successful 1st Observations of Galactic Center with GRAVITY

This artist's impression shows stars orbiting the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. In 2018 one of these stars, S2, will pass very close to the black hole and this event will be the best opportunity to study the effects of very strong gravity and test the predictions of Einstein's general relativity in the near future. The GRAVITY instrument on the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer is the most powerful tool for measuring the positions of these stars in existence and it was successfully tested on the S2 star in the summer of 2016. The orbit of S2 is shown in red and the position of the central black hole is marked with a red cross. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada

This artist’s impression shows stars orbiting the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. In 2018 one of these stars, S2, will pass very close to the black hole and this event will be the best opportunity to study the effects of very strong gravity and test the predictions of Einstein’s general relativity in the near future. The GRAVITY instrument on the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer is the most powerful tool for measuring the positions of these stars in existence and it was successfully tested on the S2 star in the summer of 2016. The orbit of S2 is shown in red and the position of the central black hole is marked with a red cross. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada

Black hole probe now working with the 4 VLT Unit Telescopes...

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Zooming in on Black Holes

As part of the first observations with the new GRAVITY instrument the team looked closely at the bright, young stars known as the Trapezium Cluster, located in the heart of the Orion star-forming region. Already, from these first data, GRAVITY made a discovery: one of the components of the cluster (Theta1 Orionis F) was found to be a double star for the first time. The brighter double star Theta1 Orionis C is also well seen. The background image comes from the ISAAC instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope. The views of two of the stars from GRAVITY, shown as inserts, reveal far finer detail than could be detected with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: ESO/GRAVITY consortium/NASA/ESA/M. McCaughrean

As part of the first observations with the new GRAVITY instrument the team looked closely at the bright, young stars known as the Trapezium Cluster, located in the heart of the Orion star-forming region. Already, from these first data, GRAVITY made a discovery: one of the components of the cluster (Theta1 Orionis F) was found to be a double star for the first time. The brighter double star Theta1 Orionis C is also well seen. The background image comes from the ISAAC instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope. The views of two of the stars from GRAVITY, shown as inserts, reveal far finer detail than could be detected with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: ESO/GRAVITY consortium/NASA/ESA/M. McCaughrean

GRAVITY at ESO’s VLT successfully combined starlight using all 4 Auxiliary Telesc...

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