does light bend around planets while reaching us ?

Question

if so then can the unit one light year be false?

Answer 1

Technically light does bend around planets, but the bending is extremely small because planets do not have enough gravity to bend light very much. For all practical purposes it is safe to treat light as if it didn't bend around planets.

Answer 2

The gravity of a planet is not enough to noticeably bend light. In fact, the Sun's gravity -- far, far greater than any planet -- only bends light measureably if the measurement is taken during an eclipse from starlight passing very, very close to the disc of the Sun.

That being said, if you measure the speed of light on Earth's surface, you can conceivably get a slightly inaccurate reading due to the relativistic effects of Earth's gravitational field. But the difference is very VERY slight; you need sensitive atomic clocks to tell the change.

Answer 3

Yes, light bends around any object with mass.
The amount it bends around a planet is very small, however, much less than a second of arc.

Light travels one lightyear in a year, regardless of whether it follows a bent trajectory or not.

The distance the stars does not depend (much) on the speed of light---it is measured using trigonomectric parallax, and so can be done independently of knowing the speed of light (although in practice it does depend on the speed of light).

Answer 4

YES! It does bend around planets before reaching us, and not only planets but around any object in space. Although it is a complicated theory which explains this phenomena, allow me to try to reason as easily I can.

According to Einstein's Theory of Relativity, ENERGY is interchangable into MASS and since light is a form of energy it HAS MASS, and so, PRACTICALLY, gets attracted towards any object due to gravitational pull.

Let me share with you some facts I discovered recently on my own. I think you don't know them yet:
1) WE CAN NEVER SEE THE PRESENT BUT ALWAYS THE PAST
2) WHAT WE SEE IS NOT 'REALITY'

Stunt? Let me expalin

1) Its very simple. We see because of Light and Light travels with a finite speed so it takes time to travel from one place to another. For example: it takes around 8 mins. to reach us from the Sun. Think about it. If it takes time then when we look at the sun, we don't see how the sun would appear RIGHT AT THAT MOMENT, but we see it as it was 8 mins. ago which happens to be in the past. The same applies to anything in the Universe. Even when you are starring at somebodies face, Light takes time to reach your eyes from that persons face. Sure, time taken is very very very very very less, but it DOES TAKE TIME, that is, the value of time taken is not 'Zero', and so the person is in the past.

2) The bending of the path of Light coupled with the fact that Light takes time to travel gives birth to a reality which DOES NOT EXIST. Because, when we look at a star we don't see the actual position of it but an apparent one, because it has come to us travelling through millions of miles of space and had got bent. And also when we look at the sun and Alpha Centauri(which is our nearest star after the Sun) we look at an 8mins old Sun and a 4years old Alpha Centauri. 8mins and 4years come together to give rise to this illusion.

And for your 2nd question, I don't think it could be false since it only measures the distance travelled in a year.

Answer 5

Yes, light bends around anything with gravity, althought in the case of a smallish planet, the bend would be unmeasurable. The bigger the gravitational field, the more the bend.

Answer 6

We know light can bend. And light yr is not false thats a unit . We made the unit to measure the distance. The Astronomy of space is wonderful . Don't you like the cosmic hide and seek? i love it!!!

Answer 7

While light passing next to a planet may bend by a fraction of a Deg. it would not falasify the mesurment of a lightyear.

Any gravational body can bend / focus light by the warping of space around it, the larger the gravational body, the larger the warpage.

Answer 8

deep thinking! well yes the light does bend due to refraction (you must be knowing as you asked the question) but for the approximation it is left from calculations as light's speed is so high that it manages to get away with it. However, the case is a bit different in case of total internal reflection.

Answer 9

no, not false. light is measured in its speed, so bending still means it travels at that speed, but just longer distance. it is sid somewhere in science that light probably does have mass, so then when there is a massive gravitational field it gets distorted. so large crazy butt planets may have an effect, but black holes are the mentionable oones or ones that make a difference. planets like pluto mean nothing. see, even our scientists think its shite, so doesnt deserve their attention, and have delisted its planet status.......lol

Answer 10

it does theoretically change its average speed minutly, but the distance 'light-year' is based on how far light would go in a year unmolested.

think of a road between two towns. Looking on a regular map, you can measure the distance as, say, 5 miles, but driving its more like 5.2 because the road isn't really straight. that help?