B Proposed Experiment - Speed of Light

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The discussion centers on the hypothesis that light could be influenced by gravity in a manner similar to how massive objects experience gravity assist, potentially resulting in changes to light's frequency or wavelength. Participants propose an experiment involving the observation of light from stars as it passes near Mercury or Venus to detect any frequency shifts, which would suggest that light can gain or lose energy due to gravitational interactions. The conversation highlights the distinction between gravity assist and phenomena like gravitational redshift and Shapiro time delay, emphasizing that while light's speed remains constant, its frequency may be affected by massive bodies. There is a consensus that further experimentation is needed to confirm these effects, which could have implications for understanding cosmological observations. The potential findings could alter interpretations of redshift in distant galaxies, suggesting that intervening matter may also influence observed light.
  • #31
Huh...not sure why this flagged as new.

In addition to the fact that this is unnecessary (has been observed elsewhere under better conditions), and likely too small to see, let me point out another problem: the kinematics of gravity assist are the same as for reflection. Good luck seeing the effect you want over a reflection background that's a zillion times bigger.
 

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