Though Einstein's framework remains intact so far, "the study is significant for the way observations by astronomers are helping to identify new, extreme cases" to test his general theory of gravity, said Dr. Wang.
The data will be pored over by scientists for years, but it was immediately clear from the information at hand that the object had experienced significant change since the Deep Impact observations.
Climate scientists have been intrigued by observations that Antarctic sea ice shows a small but statistically significant expansion of about 1.9% per decade since 1985, while sea ice in the Arctic has been shrinking over past decades.
When she was pregnant, her patients often tried to touch her stomach, and their comments and observations about her size simply slowed her down and increased her already significant discomfort.