An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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An effect predicted by → general relativity whereby a rotating body alters the → space-time around it. This effect can be thought of as a kind of "dragging of inertial frames," as first named by Einstein himself. A massive spinning object pulls nearby objects out of position compared to predictions for a non-rotating object. The effect is important for rapidly rotating → neutron stars and → black holes, but that near Earth is extraordinarily small: 39 milli-arc second per year, about the width of a human hair seen from 400 meters away.

Named after Austrian physicists Joseph Lense (1890-1985) and Hans Thirring (1888-1976), who first discovered this phenomenon in 1918; → effect.