Einstein Proven Right on Black Holes' 'Plunging Regions
A prediction originally made by Albert Einstein about a "plunging region" around black holes has finally been confirmed.
Researchers from Oxford University in the United Kingdom discovered that Einstein's prediction of how gravity works around a black hole does indeed ring true
This was discovered using X-ray data collected from several nearby black holes by NASA's NuSTAR and NICER telescopes in orbit around the Earth.
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Black holes have a gravitational pull so strong that not even light can escape them. The event horizon is the boundary surrounding a black hole beyond which nothing can escape
Einstein's theory of gravity suggested that as an object approaches a black hole, it reaches a certain distance where it cannot orbit in a circle like a planet around a star, and instead, plunges towards the black hole at near the speed of light
Until now, this region was not confirmed to exist, but using X-ray data from black holes and how stellar plasma falls into them, astrophysicists have confirmed the "plunging region" theory
Einstein's theory predicted that this final plunge would exist, but this is the first time we have been able to demonstrate it happening.