Is the speed of gravity really being tested with this experiment?

In summary, the paper by Kopeikin and Fomalont claiming to have measured the "speed of gravity" is invalid because the quantity measured was already known to propagate at the speed of light. The claims do a disservice to science in general and the advancement of physics in particular because the announced findings do not represent the meaning of the actual experimental results.
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wolram
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http://Newton.ex.ac.uk/aip/physnews.620.html [Broken]

Kopeiken and Fomolont interpret this slight displacement as providing an experimental handle on the speed of gravity itself, and thereby calculate the value of 1.06 times c. Other scientists disagree with this interpretation, and say that the radio lensing data can do little more than provide a measurement of the speed of light, not gravity. Two such opinions, by scientists who did not report at the AAS meeting, are as follows: Clifford Will of Washington University in the US (preprint at (www.arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0301145 ) and Hideki Asada of Hirosaki University in Japan
 
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http://www.metaresearch.org/media%20and%20links/press/SOG-Kopeikin.asp [Broken]

Abstract. New findings were announced on 2003/01/08 by S. Kopeikin, claiming to have measured the "speed of gravity" and finding it essentially equal to the speed of light. These findings are invalid by both experimental and theoretical standards because the quantity measured was already known to propagate at the speed of light. The hyped claims therefore do a disservice to science in general and the advancement of physics in particular because the announced findings do not represent the meaning of the actual experimental results and cannot possibly represent the physical quantity heretofore called "the speed of gravity", which has already been proved by six experiments to propagate much faster than light, perhaps billions of times faster. Several mainstream relativists have also stated their disagreement that the experiment really measured what it claimed to measure.
 
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  • #4
http://www.nature.com/nsu/020902/020902-13.html

The accuracy needed to verify Kopeikin's calculations is challenging. The telescopes must pick up angular differences of less than a third of a billionth of a degree. But Kopeikin is confident that his techniques, developed in collaboration with Ed Fomalont of the NRAO, are sensitive to discrepancies 100 times smaller than that - just enough to confirm Einstein's predictions.
 

1. How is the speed of gravity tested?

The speed of gravity can be tested using a variety of techniques, such as measuring the time it takes for objects to fall and using advanced instruments to detect gravitational waves.

2. What is the current accepted value for the speed of gravity?

The current accepted value for the speed of gravity is approximately 299,792,458 meters per second, which is the same as the speed of light.

3. Can the speed of gravity be faster or slower than the speed of light?

According to Einstein's theory of general relativity, the speed of gravity is equal to the speed of light. This means that it cannot be faster or slower.

4. Does the speed of gravity change in different environments?

No, the speed of gravity is believed to be a constant value and does not change in different environments. However, the strength of gravity may vary depending on the mass and distance of objects.

5. Has the speed of gravity ever been measured directly?

No, the speed of gravity has not been measured directly as it is extremely difficult to isolate and measure the gravitational force between two objects. However, indirect measurements and observations have been used to calculate its speed.

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