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

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of whether it is possible to see our own solar system through the bending of light by gravity, particularly focusing on black holes and gravitational lenses. The scope includes theoretical implications of gravity's effect on light and the feasibility of such an observation.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Debate/contested, Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants propose that a strong enough gravitational field could bend light emitted from our solar system back to us, allowing us to see ourselves.
  • Others argue that while black holes can bend light at various angles, including 180 degrees, the resulting image would be distorted and difficult to interpret.
  • A later reply questions the feasibility of this idea, suggesting that the mathematics involved would show it to be highly unrealistic.
  • Another participant notes that very few photons would be bent precisely 180 degrees by a black hole, leading to an incredibly faint image.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the feasibility of seeing our solar system through gravitational lensing, with some supporting the idea and others challenging its realism based on mathematical considerations.

Contextual Notes

The discussion highlights limitations related to the assumptions about gravitational fields and the mathematical modeling of light bending, which remain unresolved.

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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