Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!akgua!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!hplabs!sri-unix!SAC.LONG
From: SAC.LONG@sri-unix.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.physics
Subject: Curvature of space due to presence of matter.
Message-ID: <1124@sri-arpa.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 23-May-84 11:01:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.1124
Posted: Wed May 23 11:01:00 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 1-Jun-84 03:41:15 EDT
Lines: 29

From:    Steve   <SAC.LONG>@USC-ISIE


As I have been reading recent discussions on this net, a question
has come to mind which I do not recall ever hearing an answer to
in my past studies.  Perhaps one of our more knowledgeable contributors
on the net can address this whithout extremely technical terms.

I have heard the idea that space is warped due to the presence of
matter, especially in the case of supposed black holes.  One
experiment done to confirm this was locating stars on the opposite
side of the sun during eclipses.  It was found that the apparent
position of certain stars was changed according to that which would
be expected when relativistic effects are taken into consideration.

Question 1*  Is the above paragraph correct?

Question 2*  Is it known that matter warps space or is this a theory?

Question 3*  Is it not also possible that gravity bends light thus
             giving the appearance that space is warped due to our
             means of perception (including all detectable EMR)?

I would appreciate any reasonable responses to these questions.

Perhaps this is elementary to many, but its been a while for me
since I looked into my Physics (before I changed to Comp Sci).

  --  Steve