If a pulsing star exists near the center of our Milky Way galaxy, where a giant black hole is thought to lurk, it could shed light on the workings of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, scientists say. The flashes of light from such a star, called a pulsar, could be used to determine how much the behemoth black hole distorts space-time around it.

Unlike a standard star, pulsars emit steady pulses of light that allow their motion to be tracked precisely. An international team of astronomers has proposed that such precision could create a better understanding of the space-time around a black hole.