Space Warps

Light is believed to travel the shortest distance between two points But…… the path of light is curved in the presence of a gravitational field Einstein realized that the characteristics of gravity could be explained without any gravity at all, but by having mass warp space, so that light (as well as massive particles) travel the curvature of space as they move.

Space Warps The shortest distance between two points on the curved surface of the earth is not the shortest distance between the same two points when the earth is projected into a flat surface.

Space Warps According to General Relativity, mass has the effect of curving space, and the paths followed by projectiles (including photons) is the path determined by the curvatures of space created by massive objects

Space Warps Orbits with Gravity

Space Warps Orbit with Space Warps

Space Warps Orbits with space warps are the same as the orbits in flat space with gravity

Space Warps According to General Relativity, mass has the effect of curving space, and the paths followed by projectiles (including photons) is the path determined by the curvatures of space created by massive objects

Space Warps According to General Relativity, mass has the effect of curving space, and the paths followed by projectiles (including photons) is the path determined by the curvatures of space created by massive objects

Space Warps In General Relativity, no mechanism can strong the gravitational collapse of a black hole. Eventually, the black hole will occupy an infinitely small volume of space. Singularity – the zero volume state of a black hole. A singularity makes an infinitely deep depression in the fabric of space

Space Warps

In this photograph, light from the distant galaxy bends as it passes through the cluster, dividing the galaxy into five separate images. One image is near the center of the photograph; the others are at 6, 7, 8, and 2 o'clock. The light also has distorted the galaxy's image from a normal spiral shape into a more arc-shaped object. Astronomers are certain the blue-shaped objects are copies of the same galaxy because the shapes are similar. The cluster is 5 billion light-years away in the constellation Pisces, and the blue-shaped galaxy is about 2 times farther away. This Hubble Space Telescope image shows several blue, loop-shaped objects that actually are multiple images of the same galaxy. They have been duplicated by the gravitational lens of the cluster of yellow, elliptical and spiral galaxies - called near the photograph's center. The gravitational lens is produced by the cluster's tremendous gravitational field that bends light to magnify, brighten and distort the image of a more distant object. How distorted the image becomes and how many copies are made depends on the alignment between the foreground cluster and the more distant galaxy, which is behind the cluster.

Space Warps Scanning the heavens for the first time since the successful December 1999 servicing mission, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has imaged a giant, cosmic magnifying glass, a massive cluster of galaxies called Abell This "hefty" cluster resides in the constellation Draco, some 2 billion light-years from Earth. The cluster is so massive that its enormous gravitational field deflects light rays passing through it, much as an optical lens bends light to form an image. This phenomenon, called gravitational lensing, magnifies, brightens, and distorts images from faraway objects. The cluster's magnifying powers provides a powerful "zoom lens" for viewing distant galaxies that could not normally be observed with the largest telescopes. This useful phenomenon has produced the arc-shaped patterns found throughout the Hubble picture. These "arcs" are the distorted images of very distant galaxies, which lie 5 to 10 times farther than the lensing cluster. This distant population existed when the universe was just a quarter of its present age. Through gravitational lensing these remote objects are magnified, enabling scientists to study them in more detail. This analysis provides a direct glimpse of how star- forming regions are distributed in remote galaxies and yields other clues to the early evolution of galaxies. The picture is dominated by spiral and elliptical galaxies. Resembling a string of tree lights, the biggest and brightest galaxies are members of the foreground cluster. Researchers are intrigued by a tiny red dot just left of top center. This dot may be an extremely remote object made visible by the cluster's magnifying powers. Further investigation is needed to confirm the object's identity.