Can We See Our Own Solar System Through Gravity's Mirror?

AI Thread Summary
Gravity can bend light, and black holes can loop light around them, potentially allowing us to see light emitted from our solar system. While it's theoretically possible for a gravitational field to redirect light back to us, the practicality of this phenomenon is highly unrealistic due to the complexity of light bending. The light that could be redirected would be so distorted and faint that extracting a coherent image would be extremely challenging. Additionally, calculations indicate that only a minimal number of photons would be bent at the precise angle needed. Overall, while the concept is intriguing, the feasibility of seeing our solar system through gravity's mirror remains doubtful.
Slait
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So gravity bends space, and black holes bend space in a loop. Is it possible for there to be a gravitational field somewhere in space, just strong enough, that it bends the light emitted by our system back to us so we could see ourselves?
 
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Slait said:
So gravity bends space, and black holes bend space in a loop. Is it possible for there to be a gravitational field somewhere in space, just strong enough, that it bends the light emitted by our system back to us so we could see ourselves?

A black hole bends light at all angles including 180 degrees, so yes it will send a bit of your light back to you. Said light would be so munged up it would be difficult to extract an image from it though.

There could be a series of less severe gravitational lenses that gradually send an image back to Earth. You might even be able to rig it so that the distortion wasn't extreme.
 
If you do the math, you will see that bending light in this fashion is highly unrealistic.
 
Chronos said:
If you do the math, you will see that bending light in this fashion is highly unrealistic.

What would the math be?
 
Very few photons would be bent precisely 180 degrees in passing a black hole, as noted by ImaLooser. The resulting image would be incredibly faint.
 

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