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Gravity vs. Light

Although light is both a wave and a particle, gravity affects it in many ways. Gravity bends light and shapes the way we view far off objects. For example, a star, such as our sun, may bend the light of a far off star, A. People or telescopes on Earth would perceive it to be at B (we see things as if the light always travelled in a straight line).

Diagram 1

From a different point of view, four light rays passing through a star's "space-time warp" are bent differently according to how close they are to the star. According to the laws of gravity the farther something (in this case light)is from a large mass, the less the mass will affect it. In Diagram 2 one can see how the closer rays of light are bent more than those at a greater distance from the star.

Diagram 2

Around a Black Hole, these effects are exagherated. In Diagram 3, the black hole has the same mass as the star in Diagram 2. Since it has collapsed, it no longer has the "surface" at the same distance from its center. Therefore, some light rays are bent so far as to even circle about the Black Hole.

Diagram 3

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