New Evidence Proves Yet Another Einstein Theory
Albert Einstein, renowned scientist and theorist, has long been the subject of intrigue and debate. During his time in the laboratory and among his peers, he proposed a great many theories that changed the way we understand the world (via University of Pittsburgh), thrusting us into a new age of technological advancement and deep hipster coffee shop chat. Through Einstein's insights, we learned about the speed of light, the nature of gravity, and just about every other far-reaching, mind-bending theory in between. While his contributions to modern physics cannot be understated, his theory of relativity is arguably the most legendary and hardest to prove — until now.
On July 28, a full century after this theory was originally presented to the public, astronomers detected something peculiar taking place approximately 800 million light years away. The event that was transpiring behind a supermassive black hole is now believed to serve as foundational proof for the theory of relativity (via Australia's ABC Science).
For the first time, scientists have witnessed light from behind a supermassive black hole
ABC7 News reports that after a century of searching, Stanford University astrophysicist Dr. Dan Wilkins, along with a dedicated research team, witnessed something Einstein predicted long ago. With orbiting telescopes aimed at deep space, they picked up the light, which flashed forth as a series of flares. It seemed to echo from behind the gaping black hole in precisely the fashion Einstein described in his theory of relativity. The reason we didn't see this before? It was happening along the invisible lines of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Dr. Wilkins, an author and researcher, went on to explain exactly what is happening when the flashing light echoes behind the supermassive black hole: "The reason we can see that is because that black hole is warping space, bending light and twisting magnetic fields around itself." Today Einstein's theory officially went from mind-bending to time and space-warping.