Two scientists appear to have beaten a $600 million Nasa mission to be first to measure a phenomenon predicted by Einstein's theory of relativity.
"Frame-dragging" is the effect wherein a massive body like Earth drags space-time around with it as it spins.
Ignazio Ciufolini and Erricos Pavlis measured frame-dragging by studying the movements of two satellites in Earth orbit over a period of 11 years.
The results are published in the latest edition of the academic journal Nature.
In 1959, Leonard Schiff of Stanford University used Einstein's theory of general relativity to calculate that a gyroscope in polar orbit around Earth at 400 miles should go out of alignment by an angle of 42 milli-arcseconds per year.
One milli-arcsecond is one thousandth of one second of arc, which is itself a unit of an angle.
In April, Nasa launched Gravity Probe B, which carries precision gyroscopes to measure the effect on its one-year mission. The mission was first proposed in the 1960s, but financial and technical hitches delayed its launch until this year.......
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace