“It is the accurate measurement and mathematical modelling, down to a nanosecond accuracy, of these times of arrival that allows scientists to infer with exquisite precision the motion of the star.
“Above all, it is the unique configuration of that system, akin to the Earth-Moon-Sun system with the presence of a second companion – playing the role of the Sun – towards which the two other stars ‘fall’ – orbit – that has allowed to perform a stellar version of Galileo’s famous experiment from Pisa’s tower.
“Two bodies of different compositions fall with the same acceleration in the gravitational field of a third one.”
In effect, the scientists found the pulsar’s extreme gravity field does not differ from the prediction of general relativity by more than 1.8 million parts per million.