In this video we're chatting about the new research paper claiming to have observed the "plunging regions" inside the innermost stable circular orbit around a black hole.
Using an X-ray spectrum of the black hole MAXI J1820+070 Mummery and collaborators were able to prove that the region around a black hole existed as Einstein predicted in his theory of General Relativity.
Even more exciting still, is that this could be a new method for measuring the spin of a black hole!
00:00 - Introduction
03:40 - What is the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) around a black hole?
06:41 - How does the ISCO relate to the black hole's spin?
10:04 - How Mummery and collaborators studied the "plunging region" inside the ISCO using X-ray observations of MAXI J1820+070
14:40 - What this study tells us about black hole spin
16:27 - Interview with Dr. Andy Mummery
20:27 - Bloopers