Introduction to general relativity in a setting with comparatively strong gravitational fields. This has become possible thanks to precision observations of binary pulsars. In such a star system, two highly compact neutron stars orbit each other. At least one of them is a pulsar – an astronomical object that emits a tight beam of radiowaves. These beams strike the Earth at very regular intervals, similarly to the way that the rotating beam of a lighthouse means that an observer sees the lighthouse blink, and can be observed as a highly regular series of pulses. General relativity predicts specific deviations from the regularity of these
Beam spoiler Beam spoiler A beam spoiler is a piece of material, placed into the path of the photon beam in radiotherapy. The purpose of the spoiler is to reduce the depth of the maximum radiation dosage. The beam spoiler is composed of a sheet of material which has a low atomic number, typically lucite, the thickness of which is varied according to the beam energy and the distance by which the radiation dose must be shifted. As the primary photon beam passes through the plate, secondary electrons are generated. The beam exiting the spoiler is a combination of the spoiler-attenuated photons