The Tiny Planet Revealing Gravity’s Big Secrets

Mercury’s path through our solar system is, well, a little eccentric, and some of its movements were a mystery astronomers couldn’t explain for a long time. Then, in the early 20th century, Einstein reran the numbers and proved a whole lot more!

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Hosted by: Caitlin Hofmeister

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Sources:
https://aether.lbl.gov/www/classes/p10/gr/PrecessionperihelionMercury.htm
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1134%2FS1028335819120073
http://122.physics.ucdavis.edu/course/cosmology/sites/default/files/files/Shapiro-PRL.pdf
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015AGUFM.P34A..09S/abstract
(https://cddis.nasa.gov/lw14/docs/papers/sci7b_jcm.pdf)
https://arxiv.org/pdf/1705.04397.pdf
https://sci-hub.do/10.1103/PhysRevLett.13.789
https://astrobites.org/2018/03/19/testing-the-limits-of-gravity-at-mercury/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-02558-1
https://phys.org/news/2016-12-strong-gravity-earth.html
https://www.science.org.au/curious/space-time/gravity
https://youtu.be/UG4Jz9rNzj8
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/astronomy/chapter/tests-of-general-relativity/
https://www.universetoday.com/56157/gravity-equation/

Image Sources:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13425
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Urbain_Le_Verrier.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Perihelion_precession_of_Mercury_de.svg
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/images/354324main_mercurywest_messenger_big_full.jpg
https://www.istockphoto.com/vector/sun-and-earth-19-century-scientific-illustration-gm488917826-74444791
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2014712249/
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mercury_black_background.png
https://bit.ly/2IyFPcY
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MESSENGER_-_spacecraft_at_mercury_-_atmercury_lg.jpg