Frame dragging is a fascinating prediction of Einstein’s general relativity, where rotating massive objects—like planets, stars, or black holes—twist the fabric of spacetime around them. This effect means that anything nearby, including light and matter, is slightly pulled along in the direction of the object’s rotation.
The phenomenon is most extreme near rotating black holes, where it helps form the ergosphere—a region where nothing can remain stationary. Even in less extreme cases, such as near Earth, frame dragging is real and measurable. NASA’s Gravity Probe B experiment confirmed this effect by detecting the tiny precession of gyroscopes in orbit due to Earth’s spin.
Frame dragging shows that mass not only curves spacetime, but rotation also distorts and drags it, revealing the dynamic, flexible nature of the universe’s underlying structure.