A massive binary black-hole system in OJ 287 and a test of general relativity

被引：326

作者：

Valtonen, M. J. ^{[1
,2
]}

Lehto, H. J. ^{[1
,2
]}

Nilsson, K. ^{[2
]}

Heidt, J. ^{[3
]}

Takalo, L. O. ^{[1
,2
]}

Sillanpaa, A. ^{[1
,2
]}

Villforth, C. ^{[1
,2
]}

Kidger, M. ^{[4
,5
]}

Poyner, G. ^{[6
]}

Pursimo, T. ^{[7
]}

Zola, S. ^{[8
]}

Wu, J. -H. ^{[10
]}

Zhou, X. ^{[10
]}

Sadakane, K. ^{[11
]}

Drozdz, M.

Koziel, D. ^{[8
]}

Marchev, D. ^{[12
]}

Ogloza, W.

Porowski, C. ^{[8
]}

Siwak, M. ^{[8
]}

Stachowski, G. ^{[9
]}

Winiarski, M. ^{[8
]}

Hentunen, V. -P.

Nissinen, M. ^{[13
]}

Liakos, A. ^{[14
]}

Dogru, S. ^{[15
]}

机构：

[1] Univ Turku, Dept Phys, FI-21500 Piikkio, Finland

[2] Univ Turku, Tuorla Observ, FI-21500 Piikkio, Finland

[3] Landessternwarte Heidelberg, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany

[4] European Space Agcy, European Space Astron Ctr, Herschel Sci Ctr, Villafrance Castillo Satellite Tracking Stn, Madrid 28691, Spain

[5] INSA, Madrid 28008, Spain

[6] British Astron Assoc Variable Star Sect, Birmingham B44 0QE, W Midlands, England

[7] Nord Opt Telescope, E-38700 S C La Palma, Spain

[8] Jagiellonian Univ, Astron Observ, PL-30224 Krakow, Poland

[9] Pedagog Univ, Mt Suhora Observ, PL-30084 Krakow, Poland

[10] Chinese Acad Sci, Natl Astron Observ, Beijing 100012, Peoples R China

[11] Osaka Kyoiku Univ, Inst Astron, Kashiwara, Osaka 5828582, Japan

[12] Shoumen Univ, Dept Phys, Shumen, Bulgaria

[13] Warkauden Kassiopeia Ry, Kangaslampi 79480, Finland

[14] Univ Athens, Fac Phys, Dept Astrophys Astron & Mech, GR-15784 Athens, Greece

[15] Canakkale Onsekiz Mart Univ, Fac Phys, TR-17020 Canakkale, Turkey

来源：

NATURE | 2008年 / 452卷 / 7189期

关键词：

D O I：

10.1038/nature06896

中图分类号：

O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];

学科分类号：

07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;

摘要：

Tests of Einstein's general theory of relativity have mostly been carried out in weak gravitational fields where the space- time curvature effects are first- order deviations from Newton's theory(1-6). Binary pulsars(4) provide a means of probing the strong gravitational field around a neutron star, but strong- field effects may be best tested in systems containing black holes(7,8). Here we report such a test in a close binary system of two candidate black holes in the quasar OJ 287. This quasar shows quasi- periodic optical outbursts at 12- year intervals, with two outburst peaks per interval(9,10). The latest outburst occurred in September 2007, within a day of the time predicted by the binary black- hole model and general relativity(11). The observations confirm the binary nature of the system and also provide evidence for the loss of orbital energy in agreement ( within 10 per cent) with the emission of gravitational waves from the system(12). In the absence of gravitational wave emission the outburst would have happened 20 days later(13).

引用

页码：851 / 853

页数：3

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