STEM News: Einstein's Theory of Relativity Just Got 500 times Harder to Beat!

Einstein's general theory of relativity predicted that massive objects bend and warp four dimensions of space-time. This is experienced as gravity. Despite its success, it remains (mathematically) incompatible with quantum mechanics. Now, this theory has become 500 times harder to disprove! Thanks to the first-ever black hole caught on camera, M87.

Researchers at the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration were trying to analyse the "shadow" of M87. Their findings were phenomenal! Here "shadow" refers to the shadow-like effect observed in a black hole when it interacts with light. The black hole pulls light towards it such that it doesn't escape the inside of a black hole (due to the strong gravitational force). When the matter (which heats up through viscous dissipation*) and light of varied frequencies which gets accreted onto the black hole interacts with the event horizon, it forms a "shadow."

The black hole's gravity distorts space-time to a larger extent and this can act as a magnifying glass. It can make the black hole's shadow appear bigger. The distortion and the size of M87's shadow were measured, and the results were consistent with Einstein's general theory of relativity.