The crucial phase of our discovery of black holes took place in a suitably dark period of human history – World War II.
An artist’s impression of the path of star S2 as it passes very close to the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. The very strong gravitational field causes the colour of the star to shift slightly to the red. (Size and colour exaggerated for clarity.)
ESO/M. Kornmesser
Astronomers traced a single star as it passed close to the black hole at the centre of our galaxy, and detected the telltale signature of Einstein’s gravity in action.
Triple star system involving a pulsar suggests Einstein was right.
Kevin Gill/Flickr
Exactly 99 years after Einstein’s theory of general relativity was proven right in our own solar system, scientists show that it also holds true for entire galaxies.
Hawking had a cult-like following among academics and non-academics alike.
kosalabandara/flickr
A future that continues to have increasingly fast computing depends on quantum physics – but research is showing that there are limits to how fast quantum computers can go.
Image showing where scientists believe dark matter resides in the galaxy cluster Abell 520
– near the hot gas in the middle, coloured green.
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
Is dark energy just an illusion, as is often suggested? To resolve the dilemma, interpreting the basic principles of general relativity in a complex Universe may need a rethink.
Gravity of a white dwarf star warps space and bends the light of a distant star behind it.
NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI
These ripples in the very fabric of the universe were hypothesized by Einstein a century ago. Now scientists have detected them for the third time in a year and a half – ushering in a new era in astrophysics.
The discovery of the year was the first detection of gravitational waves.
LIGO/T. Pyle
The OzGRav Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery will enable Australian researchers to be at the forefront of gravitational wave astronomy.
There are two broad ways to measure the expansion of the universe. One is based on the cosmic microwave background, shown here, along with our own galaxy viewed in microwave wavelengths.
ESA, HFI & LFI consortia (2010)
The universe is expanding faster than expected, but we don’t know what’s driving it. Here are a few of the possible explanations, from dark energy to a modification of general relativity.
An artist’s impression of the galaxies found in the ‘Zone of Avoidance’ behind our Milky Way.
International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research