Albert Einstein (1879 ~ 1955) constructed a new theory of gravitation in 1915, which describes the gravity as the curvature of the spacetime. The Newtonian gravitation is the weak-field limit of Einstein's theory, the General Relativity.
- Precession of Mercury's orbit
- Light bending
[Star light bending seen during a solar eclipse. Displacement is exaggerated in this figure. It should be 1.77 arcsecond at the edge of the sun's disk.]
- Gravitational waves
Interferometry gravitational wave detcetion facilities.
The first direct detection of gravitational waves. [PRL 116, 061102 (2016)]
[GW detections as of Oct. 2017. The neutron-star merger event (GW170817) was also detected in other EM wave bands as a short Gamma Ray Burst (GRB); see, e.g., the special issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters on GW170817. It is the debut of multi-messenger astronomy.]
For more updates on gravitational wave detection, check LIGO at Caltech.
[In the left panel the spacecraft arrives at its apogee to meet the moon. In the right, the spacecraft orbits the sun to meet Jupiter.]
[Path of Cassini spacecraft to Saturn. The Cassini mission ended on September 15, 2017, with a plunge into Saturn's atmosphere. Check the Grand Finale of the mission.]