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NASA’s NuSTAR Helps Solve Riddle of Black Hole Spin

PASADENA, Calif. — Two X-ray space observatories, NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) and the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton, have teamed up to measure definitively, for the first time, the spin rate of a black hole with a mass 2 million times that of our sun.

The supermassive black hole lies at the dust- and gas-filled heart of a galaxy called NGC 1365, and it is spinning almost as fast as Einstein’s theory of gravity will allow. The findings, which appear in a new study in the journal Nature, resolve a long-standing debate about similar measurements in other black holes and will lead to a better understanding of how black holes and galaxies evolve. (more…)

Astronomers Test Einstein in a New Regime Using Pair of Burnt-Out Stars

By Guest PostAugust 31, 2012Sciencealbert einstein, apache point telescope, astronomer, austin, burnt out stars, canary islands, carlos allende prieto, don winget, dwarf stars, einstein, emission, energy, european space agency, fabric, Galaxy, gemini north telescope, general relativity, gran telescopio canarias, gravitational wave, hawaii, j j hermes, j0651, mcdonald observatory, milliseconds, moving object, mukremin kilic, NASA, new mexico, new regime, orbital decay, orbital period, otto struve telescope, ripple, space time, spain, sun, test, texas, theory, university, university of oklahoma, warren brown, west texas

AUSTIN, Texas — A team of astronomers led by researchers from The University of Texas at Austin has confirmed the emission of gravitational waves from the second-strongest known source in our galaxy by studying the shrinking orbital period of a unique pair of burnt-out stars. Their observations tested Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity in a new regime. The results will be published soon in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Last year, the same team discovered that the two white dwarf stars are so close together that they make a complete orbit in less than 13 minutes, and they should be gradually slipping closer. The system, called SDSS J065133.338+284423.37 (J0651 for short), contains two white dwarf stars, which are the remnant cores of stars like our sun. (more…)

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NASA’s NuSTAR Helps Solve Riddle of Black Hole Spin

Astronomers Test Einstein in a New Regime Using Pair of Burnt-Out Stars