Scientists attempt to measure speed of gravity

spaceflightnow.com ^ | 5 SEP 02 | staff

[RightWhale]

It is just a theory

When the piece of angle iron fell off the welding table onto my foot the one time I wasn't wearing steel-toe boots, "something" was going on.

[Sloth]

On Sept. 8, Jupiter will pass very close to the primary quasar. When it does, its gravity will cause the quasar's position in the sky to shift by a distance that depends on the speed of gravity.

A very badly written pair of sentences... speaks of the quasar when it means the EM emissions from the quasar -- a big difference.

[RightWhale]

That's interesting. I searched on "gravity" and found some thngs, but not that thread.

[realpatriot71]

Gravity! It cures what ails ya!

[BrooklynGOP]

Heh.. good ol' college days.

[Revelation 911]

sounds like Jupiter will act as a gravity lens

[RightWhale]

Jupiter will act as a gravity lens

Yes. Thinking about that, gravity lenses are usually much bigger objects. This experiment is looking for subtle effects.

[realpatriot71]

[Entropy Squared]

If the sun winked out of existence, how long would it take for Earth's orbit to change? Would it be instant or would it take the time (8 minutes?) of light speed to effect the change?

[RightWhale]

If the sun winked out of existence

We could figure this out for sure if we found a double star with both suns orbiting close together and a planet orbiting both at a greater distance. There would be regular motion in the system, but some kind of phase lag in the planet's orbit that could be measured.

[Junior]

Heavy, dude!

[john in missouri]

I would posit that it's apparent position in the sky and its position in the sky are the same thing, since "in the sky" is only a particular reference frame based on a particular observation point - that of within earth's atmosphere.

You're quite right, of course, and I even realized that when I wrote what I wrote, but my position was (and is) that clarity is a higher value than absolute elimination of redundancy.

...as I further illustrated by using the phrase "absolute elimination..." 8-)

[MeekOneGOP]

I don't think we can truly appreciate the gravity of this situation. Ping the smart
guys !

[el_texicano]

Could ya'll pass whatever you are drinkin'? I think I need some to grasp all this.

[ArGee]

under this continual bombardment.

You are not under continual bombardment. You are expelling energy continuously. You are continually bombarding your environment.

And, as long as the rate of bombardment is equally distributed around your entire surface area, and as long as the speed of the energy particles is very high compared to your own speed, then I don't see how inertia would be impacted.

However, it might explain some of the predicted behaviors at speeds near c as your "gravitons" start to build up in the direction you are travelling.

Shalom.

[ArGee]

Ergo, gravity is a GREAT DEAL faster than light.

No, it's just that gravitons are much more massive than photons.

Shalom.

[ArGee]

If, for example, Hillary's butt were placed in the middle of Times Square, the speed of gravity would permit us to calculate how long it would take for the gravitational rays to reach The Empire State building and cause it to lean, slightly but perceptibly, in her direction.

It would be easier to measure its impact on the sun, the sun being farther away and all.

Shalom.

[ArGee]

I'm not sure why, but it seems like the concept of entropy would work against your theory.

In a closed system, true. The gravitons have to be coming from somewhere. Maybe that's why living things grow old? Bigger problem explaining the issue for rocks, though.

Shalom.

[el_texicano]

Hillary's butt = black hole of the Universe.

She sucks the life out of anything.

[ArGee]

John in Missouri for chairman of the Department of Redundancy Department in 2002. He'll fix those ATM Machines for sure.

Shalom.