<PERSON>'s General Theory of Relativity
How a Total Solar Eclipse Helped Prove <PERSON> Right About Relativity
That historic experiment was carried out on May 29, 1919. British astronomer Sir <PERSON> was paying attention to <PERSON>'s outlandish yet powerful new ideas after getting word from Dutch physicist <PERSON> (Holland was a neutral nation during WWI) and realized he could lead an experiment to test the theory.
In 1917, Sir <PERSON>, Astronomer Royal of Britain, had conceived an experiment that would plot the positions of background stars close to the sun's limb during an eclipse — an experiment that <PERSON> would lead two years later. If the positions of the stars could be precisely measured during the 1919 eclipse and then compared with their normal positions in the sky, the effects of warped space-time could be observed — beyond what <PERSON>’s classical mechanics would predict. 489
If the position of the stars were altered in exactly the way that <PERSON>'s theory predicted they should be, then this might be just the test general relativity needed. <PERSON> most likely knew that if this test confirmed general relativity theory, it would turn the view of the Newtonian universe on its head.
Result of the Experiment:
Here is where my question comes in to play. <PERSON> theory of general relativity was accepted because of this first experiment initially. I just have questions about the method of calculation that proved this theory correct.
When this experiment took place, what was the rotational direction of the sun in this photo? And if the rotational direction was the same direction as the displacement of the stars light, then could not the suns rotational direction have effected the light, instead of the idea that space being bent around the suns mass caused this distortion in light?
If space is being bent, then would not this effect occur at all angles of the sun? If it does, are their more photos of this in action? Has anyone tried correlating the displacement of stars light to the rotational direction of the sun, or large bodies of mass that light is passing nearby? 319