Relativistic redshift of the star s0-2 orbiting the galactic center supermassive black hole

DOI: 
10.1126/science.aav8137
Publication date: 
12/08/2019
Main author: 
Do T.
IAA authors: 
Gallego-Cano, E.;Schödel, R.
Authors: 
Do T., Hees A., Ghez A., Martinez G.D., Chu D.S., Jia S., Sakai S., Lu J.R., Gautam A.K., O’neil K.K., Becklin E.E., Morris M.R., Matthews K., Nishiyama S., Campbell R., Chappell S., Chen Z., Ciurlo A., Dehghanfar A., Gallego-Cano E., Kerzendorf W.E., Lyke J.E., Naoz S., Saida H., Schödel R., Takahashi M., Takamori Y., Witzel G., Wizinowich P.
Journal: 
Science
Publication type: 
Article
Pages: 
664-668
Abstract: 
General Relativity predicts that a star passing close to a supermassive black hole should exhibit a relativistic redshift. We test this using observations of the Galactic center star S0-2. We combine existing spectroscopic and astrometric measurements from 1995-2017, which cover S0-2’s 16-year orbit, with measurements in 2018 March to September which cover three events during its closest approach to the black hole. We detect the combination of special relativistic-and gravitational-redshift, quantified using a redshift parameter, ϒ. Our result, = 0.88 0.17 ϒ = 1 and excludes a Newtonian model ( ϒ = 0) with a statistical significance of 5σ. ϒ ±, is consistent with General Relativity ( ). © 2019, American Association for the Advancement of Science. All rights reserved.
Database: 
SCOPUS
ADS
URL: 
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85069894085&doi=10.1126%2fscience.aav8137&partnerID=40&md5=f5820f3c9455fc5f121a367fe6157be9
ADS Bibcode: 
2019Sci...365..664D