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10 - Testing Gravity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 May 2023

Kenneth I. Kellermann
Affiliation:
National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, Virginia
Ellen N. Bouton
Affiliation:
National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, Virginia
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Summary

One important area where radio astronomers confirmed theoretical predictions was in tests of General Relativity. Radio interferometer measurements made during the 1970s were able to confirm Einstein’s prediction of the gravitational bending of light to an accuracy better than 1 percent, or an order of magnitude better than the controversial classical optical tests made during the time of a solar eclipse. In 1965, MIT Professor Irwin Shapiro suggested and subsequently confirmed a new fourth test of General Relativity resulting from the excess delay of the reflected radar signal from a planet as the signal passes close to the Sun. Radio observations have also found Einstein’s “gravitational lensing” by which a massive cluster of galaxies can form multiple radio images of a background galaxy or quasar. Observations of small periodic deviations in the time of arrival of pulsar pulses at the Arecibo Observatory led Princeton University graduate student Russell Hulse and his supervisor Joe Taylor to the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics for the first experimental evidence for the predicted existence of gravitational radiation.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Testing Gravity
  • Kenneth I. Kellermann, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, Virginia, Ellen N. Bouton, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, Virginia
  • Book: Star Noise: Discovering the Radio Universe
  • Online publication: 04 May 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009023443.013
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  • Testing Gravity
  • Kenneth I. Kellermann, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, Virginia, Ellen N. Bouton, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, Virginia
  • Book: Star Noise: Discovering the Radio Universe
  • Online publication: 04 May 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009023443.013
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Testing Gravity
  • Kenneth I. Kellermann, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, Virginia, Ellen N. Bouton, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, Virginia
  • Book: Star Noise: Discovering the Radio Universe
  • Online publication: 04 May 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009023443.013
Available formats
×