Two space <span title="questions...........................">questions...................</span>

Question

how far in years is the Oort cloud from earth?

if the speed of light is restricted by gravity(we know this because black holes) than can the speed of light in zero gravity not be restricted? or is light faster in zero gravity?

Answer 1

The speed of light is not restricted by gravity.  The speed of light is constant.  Gravity has no effect on the speed of light.  

Black holes do not change the speed of light.  They simply don&#039;t allow anything to escape, such as a photon. Gravity warps space so the path of light changes but the speed does not change.

From Nasa.gov:

Is Light Affected By Gravity?

Is light affected by gravity? If so, how can the speed of light be constant? Wouldn&#039;t the light coming off of the Sun be slower than the light we make here? If not, why doesn&#039;t light escape a black hole?

Yes, light is affected by gravity, but not in its speed. General Relativity (our best guess as to how the Universe works) gives two effects of gravity on light. It can bend light (which includes effects such as gravitational lensing), and it can change the energy of light. But it changes the energy by shifting the frequency of the light (gravitational redshift) not by changing light speed. Gravity bends light by warping space so that what the light beam sees as &quot;straight&quot; is not straight to an outside observer. The speed of light is still constant.

Dr. Eric Christian

Answer 2

The Oort cloud is not even one light year from Earth.

The speed of light is affected by gravity, but not restricted by it. In a high gravity field, to an outside observer, the speed of light would seem to be slowed.  To an observer within the same gravity field, however, the speed of light would appear normal.  In zero gravity and in a vacuum the speed of light would be the same for an observer within and outside of the gravity field.

That gravity affects the speed of light is observed by the effect of gravitational lensing.  High gravity fields (such as those provided by galaxies) bend (that is to say, slow) the speed of a beam of light from a source behind them.  So, if there is a bright, distant source of light behind a nearer, massive galaxy, the light from the far source is slowed and bent by the nearby galaxy, magnified in the process, and is observed by us as being larger in size than their distance would suggest.

Answer 3

if you can build a gravity engine, you can travel faster than light.

Answer 4

the speed of light is not restricted by gravity. the speed of light in a vacuum is a constant, under no circumstances can it change. gravity slows down time.