Black holes twist spacetime #shorts

By Dr. Becky

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Black holes don’t just curve space, they twist it too - dragging it along as they spin. So according to Einstein’s theory of general relativity we can describe gravity mathematically as massive objects curving space itself. And in 1918, two Austrian physicists, Josef Lense and Hans Thirring, were using Einstein’s equations to work out the gravity around a spinning object and realised that curved space gets dragged along by the spinning object. The object doesn’t just curve the space, it adds some spin to the space too. Kind of like spinning something in a thick liquid like honey, the honey at the edge trails behind the middle. This is known as the Lense-Thirring effect, or frame dragging. And this phenomenon isn’t just unique to black holes, Earth does this too as it spins on its axis, dragging space so that satellites make fun spirograph patterns with their orbits. Which is exactly what happens to stars orbiting close enough to the supermassive black hole at the centre of th

Tags: dr beccy, astronomie, physiks