The new discovery of astronomers put Einstein to shame and may turn our view on the structure of the entire universe.
On Friday, the official message came that astronomers first found an asteroid that orbits inside the orbit of Venus. Does this news seem ordinary to you? In fact, this is a real "bomb" that can "detonate" Einstein's theory of relativity. But in order.
The space between the Sun and the Earth has long been considered "clean" - no asteroids, no dust. They said that our luminary, with its gigantic heat and energy, throws away all unnecessary things. Only two large planets, Mercury and Venus, miraculously survived, precisely because they are large. Accordingly, scientists did not look for anything in this space. Moreover, this area is extremely difficult to observe. The sun is very close, dim objects are not visible.
And in the spring of last year, 2019, two groups of astronomers at once reported that they had discovered two giant dust clouds, one in the orbit of Mercury, the other in the orbit of Venus. Both discoveries were made by accident. The researchers examined photographs of the solar space obtained from satellites. Their goal was to prove that there is no dust near the Sun. Ironically, it turned out that this dust could have been found much earlier. But the experts were so sure that there was no dust near the Sun that they diligently cleaned out everything resembling dust from the photographs. Either they thought it was glare, then some other kind of interference, in general, there were always reasons to retouch the truth. But in August 2018, the Parker spacecraft went to the Sun. I really wanted him to transmit clear pictures, and the specialists finally began to carefully studywhat kind of glare and smudges. And suddenly they realized that the dust is real, exists in nature, and not adhered to the camera lens! They picked up old photographs from other satellites - in fact, two rings of dust, just in the orbits of Mercury and Venus.
In August 2018, the Parker spacecraft went to the Sun.
The question immediately arose where this dust came from. Here, the most stubborn of all was the group that opened the dust ring around Venus. This group began to build mathematical models. At first, it was thought that the dust "descended" from the outer regions of the solar system. The computer counted, no, he says, it can't be. We tried a dozen more options, and decided to take a chance. But what if some unknown asteroids revolve around Venus, they collide and produce this dust? They made a mathematical model: it was assumed that 4.5 billion years ago there were 10 thousand asteroids near Venus. Remained as "construction waste" after the formation of Venus. Will such asteroids survive, will they survive to our time? The computer counted and gave: yes, 800 asteroids from this number would have survived to our time. So in March 2019 in the authoritative "Astrophysical Journal Letters" there was an article-appeal: it is necessary to look for asteroids near Venus.
A little less than a year has passed. On January 4, 2020, a telescope (not the largest in the world, just a good telescope) observed stars that were barely visible in the twilight segment near the Sun. And here it is, an object that should not be there! The entire scientific community was immediately informed. Other research groups have confirmed. The computer calculated the orbit. It lies entirely within the orbit of Venus. The asteroid was given the number 2020 AV2, they realized that its size is about two kilometers. By the way, how, after all, the disk of such a small body cannot be seen? By its brilliance and by the distance to it. The reflectivity of asteroids is known. Therefore, knowing the brilliance and distance, one can understand the size. Of course, approximately. Maybe the asteroid is darker than average (then much larger) or lighter (then smaller),but with an accuracy of up to fifty percent, an estimate of the size can be made.
But what if some unknown asteroids revolve around Venus, they collide and produce this dust?
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Now the real hunt begins! Researchers point their telescopes into an unpleasant twilight sector of the sky. Who knows how many asteroids there actually are? But it's not even a matter of sports interest. And the fact that these discoveries overturn our knowledge of the deepest foundations of life and, perhaps, question the theory of relativity.
To understand what is the connection here, let us mentally move to 1840, when the famous astronomer, director of the Paris Observatory Francois Arago instructed the great mathematician Urbain Le Verrier to "deal with Mercury." Mercury showed oddities in its orbit, the reason for which no one could understand. He turned to the address: Le Verrier felt the "springs" that move the planets, as if at his fingertips, and it was he who would later discover Neptune. He will indicate where the planet should be, telescopes will point there, and here it is! But with Mercury, something went wrong.
Le Verrier analyzed the orbit of Mercury, formulated a new theory of its motion, but it differed dramatically from observations. Le Verrier strained himself, and in 1859 put forward a new hypothesis. This time she seemed to agree with the observations. And it was based on the fact that even closer to the Sun than Mercury, there is another planet, Vulcan. It is she who rejects Mercury.
Well, everyone started looking for Vulcan. It didn't take long to search. In the same 1859, Le Verrier receives a letter from the amateur astronomy Edmond Lescarbaud, who saw Vulcan walking against the background of the Sun! It seemed that the lover could be trusted. First, he saw Mercury walking past the Sun many times, he had experience. Secondly, at first he took the black dot for an ordinary sunspot, that is, he was unbiased, he was not going to "discover" anything on purpose. In 1860 Le Verrier officially declares: The volcano is open, and the lover is given an order.
Einstein formulated his theory of relativity. He showed that all the oddities of Mercury are explained precisely by his theory.
And then the strange. Nobody can observe "that" Volcano anymore, it is not given, but from everywhere there are reports of some other "volcanoes". They are seen either against the background of the Sun, or next to it during a solar eclipse. It turned out that something was constantly flying against the background of the Sun. Then they could not even think about UFOs, so they just shrugged. Some observations were made by very experienced people, there are probably no such observers now. Astronomers today rely on cameras and computers, and then on their eyes. It is difficult to get rid of the feeling that in those years astronomers understood the sky more subtly and were literally more perspicacious.
This fever ended as suddenly as it began. Einstein formulated his theory of relativity. He showed that all the oddities of Mercury are explained precisely by his theory, and the planet Vulcan is "unnecessary". Say, the Sun bends space-time near itself, and Mercury falls into this funnel. Now, when another "expert on science" on Yu-Tube declares that he has found a funnel in space-time, the eccentric is immediately offered to follow the company to the magicians and astrologers. But when Einstein talks about such funnels … Everyone was satisfied and they stopped looking for Vulcan.
And on the fourth of January this year, perhaps, a completely new page opens in the knowledge of everything that surrounds us. You ask - well, they found a two-kilometer stone, so what? Now it is at least clear that the "volcanoes" that were observed in the 19th century were not optical illusions, but these very asteroids that circle almost right next to the Sun. Which, in turn, significantly increases the likelihood that the great Le Verrier was right: Vulcan, a large planet, exists. She is surrounded by a retinue of small bodies, and it is she who deflects Mercury. And this, in turn, means that everything is turning upside down: now the theory of relativity is no longer needed to explain the oddities of Mercury. Is this theory even true? All these spacetime curvatures, twin paradoxes and other relativistic stuff? Good question, but only one thing is clear so far. When scientists find the elusive Volcano, and this can happen quickly, the question of revising the theory of relativity will arise. And with it, the whole system must be changed, as satirists joked in the late 1980s. And, perhaps, even return to science ether, a hypothetical super-substance, which Einstein also "canceled" with his theory, and in favor of whose existence, albeit vague, experimental evidence is accumulating. So a two-kilometer stone can turn our knowledge about the structure of the entire universe.experimental evidence. So a two-kilometer stone can turn our knowledge about the structure of the entire universe.experimental evidence. So a two-kilometer stone can turn our knowledge about the structure of the entire universe.
EVGENY ARSYUKHIN