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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Star’s loops around a giant black hole uphold Einstein’s predictions

The supermassive black hole at the core of the Milky Way adds to support for general relativity.
This animation shows S2’s orbit around Sagitarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way.

The pattern sketched by a star orbiting the Milky Way’s black hole validates the general theory of relativity. Credit: L. Calçada/ESO

After following a star’s motion around a black hole for nearly three decades, astronomers have found that the star’s orbit matches a key prediction of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity.

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Nature 580, 567 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-01149-3

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