Curvature of space questions

[PJay_A]

<p>Two questions:</p><p>1. Has there ever been any space sattelite experiments to visually illustratrate the curvature of space, such as maybe shining a laser passed a large object like Jupiter or the sun to see if the laser would curve as it makes its approach near the large object?</p><p>2. Does the curvature of space mean that very large objects, say black holes, are actually larger in size than the actual space it occupies?</p>

 

[SHU]

<p><font size="2">1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Stanley_Eddington.&nbsp; Before satellites.</font></p><p><font size="2">2) Dont understand the question.</font></p>

 

[DrRocket]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Two questions:1. Has there ever been any space sattelite experiments to visually illustratrate the curvature of space, such as maybe shining a laser passed a large object like Jupiter or the sun to see if the laser would curve as it makes its approach near the large object?2. Does the curvature of space mean that very large objects, say black holes, are actually larger in size than the actual space it occupies? <br />Posted by PJay_A</DIV></p><p>Yes.&nbsp; Satellites that orbit the earth follow a geodesic in space-time.&nbsp; That curved orbit is evidence of the curvature of space-time.</p><p>The very first experiment that confirmed general relativity involved an observation of light from certain stars being bent by the gravitational field of the sun.&nbsp; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tests_of_general_relativity</p><p>No the curvature of space does not mean that black holes are bigger than black holes.&nbsp; The size of something IS the the volume of the space that it occupies, and this has nothing to do with curvature.<br /></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[weeman]

<p>Eddington's experiments are some of the best for basic evidence of the curvature of space. </p><p>A phenomenon known as gravitational lensing can be plainly seen in photographs of distant galaxy clusters. It is evidence for the theory that mass bends the space in which it resides. </p><p><br /><img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/13/11/0db0f7d8-3555-431b-bb6c-dfabd34edaa8.Medium.jpg" alt="" /></p><p>In this picture we see bending light around a massive object from a distant source. The orange arrows show the apparent position of the background source. The white arrows show the path of the light from the true position of the source. </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Techies: We do it in the dark. </font></strong></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>"Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.</strong><strong>" -Albert Einstein </strong></font></p> </div>