A discovery made by a Hilo High School alumnus will pave the way for a test of one of Albert Einstein’s theories, W.M. Keck Observatory announced Wednesday.
According to Keck, Devin Chu, who is an astronomy graduate student at University of California, Los Angeles, was the lead author of a study that found a star near the galaxy’s supermassive black hole is not a binary system, as previously thought.
That will allow the star, known as S0-2, to be used to test whether light from a strong gravitational field, such as from a black hole, gets stretched out, or redshifted.
“Growing up on Hawaii Island, it feels surreal doing important research with telescopes on my home island,” Chu said in a press release. “I find it so rewarding to be able to return home to conduct observations.”
The study also sheds more light on the strange birth of S0-2 and its stellar neighbors, Keck said.
The fact these stars exist so close to the supermassive black hole is unusual because they are so young; how they could’ve formed in such a hostile environment is a mystery.