Bending light

Back in the early twentieth century scientists were seeking a chance to view a solar eclipse to "prove" Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. Specifically, the theory that gravity bends light. The experiment entailed picking a star that would be hidden by the sun during an eclipse and seeking to "see" that star as the result of its light being bent by the sun's massive gravity.

My son Samuel, studying physics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, is not particularly a fan of Einstein's theory. He made the observation that HEAT bends light, as anybody can tell on a scorching hot day in the south. He contends that the light frome the star was actually refracted by the sun's extremely hot ATMOSPHERE.

He agrees with me that the speed of light is affected by numerous things, the most obviously being media through which it travels. We agree that there is nothing to prove that outside of the presence of the galaxie's gravity and magnetism, the light of far away galaxies might very well be free of the restraints we put on the "speed of light." We certainly can't disprove this theory, for we have not "observed" the conditions in intergalactic space. This is his favorite answer to the apparent age of the universe due to distances. His theory holds that God created everything "in place" and then allowed it to begin to spread out.

I prefer to accept most of Einstein's theory, and have a lot of respect for Russell Humphrey's "White Hole" cosmology. A good overview of this view can be found at fellow blogspot blogger Scott Nelson. That being said, it is undeniable that heat and an atmosphere could very well account for the apparent gravitational effect on the light from a faraway star.

The point being, I guess, is that sometimes the simplest observations could also be the simplist answers.