Einstein’s analysis predicting a 1.7 arcsecond deflection at the limb of the sun:
https://einsteinpapers.press.princeton.edu/vol6-trans/211
Eddington, 1919
- “A determination of the deflection of light by the sun’s gravitational field from observations made at the total eclipse of May 29, 1919”
- This experiment confirmed that the mass of the sun bent spacetime such that stars behind the sun were visible.
- From the paper: “Thus the results of the expeditions to Sobral and Principe can leave little doubt that a deflection of light takes place in the neighbourhood of the sun and that it is of the amount demanded by Einstein’s generalised theory of relativity, as attributable to the sun’s gravitational field.”
- https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.1920.0009
- Direct PDF Download: eddington-1919
- High resolution scan of Eddington’s plate: https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1926a/
Additional measurements:
- Article on the 1922 Eclipse Expedition: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-1922-eclipse-expedition-to-remote-western-australia
- Photograph archive from Lick Observatory: https://digitalcollections.library.ucsc.edu/catalog?f%5BsubjectPlace_sim%5D%5B%5D=Western+Australia&locale=en
- 1922 Evidence of the Bending of the Rays of Light on Passing the Sun, obtained by the Canadian Expedition to observe the Australian Eclipse
- 1922 Determination of the Deflection of Light by the Sun’s Gravitational Field from Observations Made at Cordillo Downs, South Australia during the Total Eclipse of 1922 September 21
- 1923 Bulletin Number 346 – Observations on the deflection of light in passing through the sun’s gravitational field
- 1950 The Einstein shift at the eclipse of May 20, 1947, in Brazil
- 1960 The determination of Einstein’s light-deflection in the gravitational field of the sun
- Direct Download
- Includes an analysis of 9 different eclipse measurements
- 1972 Analysis of the Optical Data on the Deflection of Light in the Vicinity of the Solar Limb
- 1973 Gravitational deflection of light: solar eclipse of 30 June 1973 I. Description of procedures and final result.
- 1974 Observed Deflation of Light by the Sun as a Function of Solar Distance
- 2017 Gravitational Starlight Deflection Measurements during the 21 August 2017 Total Solar Eclipse
- 2020 A century of light-bending measurements: bringing solar eclipses into the classroom
- 2024
- Modern Eddington Experiment 2024
- Description of the procedure before the April 8, 2024 eclipse.
- https://moderneddingtonexperiment.org/
Other methods:
- Solar Gravitational Deflection of Radio Waves Measured by Very-Long-Baseline Interferometry
- C. C. Counselman, III, S. M. Kent, C. A. Knight, I. I. Shapiro; T. A. Clark; H. F. Hinteregger, A. E. E. Rogers, A. R. Whitney
- December 1974
- “Utilizing a four-antenna technique, we observed simultaneously, at each end of an 845 km baseline, the radio sources 3C279 and 3C273B which are 10° apart in the sky. Differences in interferometric phases at 3.7-cm wavelength monitored near the time of the 1972 occultation of 3C279 by the sun, yielded a gravitational deflection of 0.99 ± 0.03 times the value predicted by general relativity, corresponding to γ = 0.98 ±0.06 (standard error).”
- Relativistic deflection of radio signals in the solar gravitational field measured with VLBI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/310572a0
- Robertson, D., Carter, W.
- 1984
- γ = 1.008 ± 0.005
- “…the precision of the VLBI observations is so high that the deflections caused by the solar gravitational field are significant virtually everywhere in the sky.”
- Measurement of the Solar Gravitational Deflection of Radio Waves Using Very-Long-Baseline Interferometry
- https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.75.1439
- D.E. Lebach, et al
- 1995
- γ = 0.9996 ± 0.0017
- Determination of the PPN parameter γ with the Hipparcos data
- Proceedings of the Hipparcos Venice Symposium
- https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1997ESASP.402…49F/abstract
- https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/1997hipp.conf…49F
- M. Froeschle, F. Mignard, F. Arenou
- 1997
- γ = 0.997 ± 0.003
- A test of general relativity using radio links with the Cassini spacecraft
- https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01997
- B. Bertotti, L. Iess. P. Tortora
- 2003
- γ = 1 + (2.1 ± 2.3) x 10⁻⁵
- Measurement of the Solar Gravitational Deflection of Radio Waves using Geodetic Very-Long-Baseline Interferometry Data, 1979–1999
- https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.121101
- S. S. Shapiro, J. L. Davis, D. E. Lebach, and J. S. Gregory
- March, 2004
- γ = 0.9998 ± 0.0003
- PROGRESS IN MEASUREMENTS OF THE GRAVITATIONAL BENDING OF RADIO WAVES USING THE VLBA
- https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/699/2/1395
- E. Fomalont, S. Kopeikin, G. Lanyi, and J. Benson
- July 10, 2009
- γ = 0.9998 ± 0.0004
- Improved determination of γ by VLBI
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201016370
- S. B. Lambert and C. Le Poncin-Lafitte
- 2010
- γ = 0.99992 ± 0.00012
- The 1919 measurement of the deflection of light – Start Here
- https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1409.7812
- Clifford M. Will
- 2014
Commentaries and Books
- No Shadow of a Doubt
- Testing relativity from the 1919 eclipse—a question of bias
- Proving Einstein Right
Detractors
MCToon 