General Relativity and the Precession of the Orbit of Mercury | Jim Thomas, Tauranga Astronomical Society
- May 9
- 2 min read
The universe does not always play by the rules we expect. For centuries, the laws laid down by Newton and Kepler provided a solid framework for our solar system, but Mercury always seemed to be doing its own thing. This month, Café Scientifique Tauranga welcomes Jim Thomas from the Tauranga Astronomical Society to break down why this tiny planet forced us to rethink everything we knew about gravity.
Einstein’s breakthrough was realising that gravity isn’t a force in the traditional sense. Instead, it is the result of mass curving the very fabric of space and time. For the curious minds in our community, this session in Tauranga offers a rare chance to see how these massive concepts apply to our local understanding of the stars.
Event Details for Café Scientifique General Relativity and the Precession of the Orbit of Mercury
Speaker: Jim Thomas (Tauranga Astronomical Society)
Date: Monday 18 May
Time: Doors open 6:30pm, 7pm start (finishes by 9pm)
Location: Tauranga Yacht Club
Cost: $10 door fee to cover venue hire
Registration: Get in touch with julia.banks60@gmail.com
Jim will lead the audience in a practical session to build models of the solar system. You will start with the classic 3D Newtonian model before shifting into Einstein’s curved space version. This helps to visualise how a "hole" in space is formed when large stars collapse.
Nga mihi to Julia Banks at Café Scientifique for organising this event and keeping our community engaged with the big questions. To stay in the loop and receive future updates directly to your inbox, please get in touch with Julia via the email above.
Comments