After seeing light ‘echo’ around a black hole, researchers can confirm a scenario in Einstein’s general theory of relativity published in 1915.
The new study published in the Nature Journal, used the European Space Agency's (ESA) XMM-Newton and NASA's NuSTAR telescopes to see light from behind a black hole for the first time ever.
According to a statement from the ESA, the black hole is 800 million light-years away in the spiral galaxy, I Zwicky 1. It is also 10 million times more massive than our sun.
Albert Einstein first predicted the light "echo" in his general theory of relativity. Since light can't escape a black hole, its extreme gravity bends space around it, allowing light to "echo" from behind the object.
The research team not only spotted an X-ray flare, but they also observed the light changing colour as it bent.
The Brussels Times