Description
Transcript: In 1844 German astronomer Friedrich Bessel studied the motions of Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, and found that it was being tugged by an invisible companion. The companion was eventually detected in 1915 in the glare of Sirius, and it was far too dim to have properties that placed it on the main sequence. It was hotter and much less luminous than the Sun. In terms of its properties, its surface must not be much larger than the surface area of the Earth. This entirely new type of star was called a white dwarf.
Transcript: A fundamental prediction of General Relativity is the fact that time slows down in strong gravitational fields. The ultimate test of this idea would be to observe someone falling into a black hole carrying a clock. In theory, the clock would slow down and come to a complete halt as...
Published 07/25/11
Transcript: Any change in a gravitational field or gravitational configuration causes ripples in space time to be emitted. These disturbances which travel at the speed of light are called gravity waves or gravitational radiation. Pulsars slow down slightly in their periods, and this corresponds...
Published 07/25/11
Transcript: If you throw an object up into the air it will eventually slow down and fall back to Earth. The object is losing kinetic energy by trying to climb out through the gravitational field of the Earth. Photons also lose energy as they climb out of the pit of gravity. This effect is...
Published 07/25/11