Page 19 - Dream June 2020

ANNULAR S LAR ECLIPSE REVELATION
The general theory of relativity predicted bending of light.
Curved space and the bending of light: (a) light travels in a straight line in the absence of any heavy object (b) Bending of light in the presence of any heavy object, like a planet or a star
two observations could bring out the positional shift, if any. Of course, during an eclipse, the measurement needs to be taken from a spot where the totality is visible and at a time when the disc of the Sun is completely blocked and other stars are visible.
Eddington’s work
Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington was an English astronomer. In 1915, Einstein presented the general theory of relativity to the Prussian Academy of Sciences. It was wartime, and direct communication of scientific results between England and Germany was not possible. But Eddington was lucky to receive a copy of Einstein’s papers from his Dutch friend Willem De Sitter. Eddington could understand the importance of the theory and wanted to validate it experimentally. In 1917, he presented a report to the Royal Astronomical Society and explained how observational validation could be carried out using measurements of star position during totality. Along with Eddington, another astronomer, Sir Frank Watson Dyson, also became interested in observational validation. Dyson and Eddington realised that the eclipse of 29 May 1919 could be the golden opportunity to test Einstein’s theory. They also noted that at the time of eclipse, the Sun would
Arthur S. Eddington Frank W. Dyson
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