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A principle of modern cosmology is that so-called space-time is a physically real entity.
In Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity
light will follow the so-called curvature of spacetime.
For decades astronomers have claimed to observe
the bending of light passing around massive objects,
an effect called gravitational lensing.
However, as is so often the case in the space sciences,
the line between fact and interpretation is routinely blurred.
Today, Thunderbolts contributor Andy Hall
discusses the tenability of gravitational lensing
and explores the growing body of research into its theoretical alternatives.
Einstein's theory of general relativity is the backbone of mainstream cosmology.
Anyone exploring Electric Universe theory
must confront the issue of the general relativity model
because in spite of the fact it doesn't really describe much that we see in space,
it is still widely believed by mainstream institutional sciences
and we are consistently told by mainstream science that general relativity
is proven by direct observations.
One of those observations and the first used to confirm Einstein's theory
is an effect he predicted himself, called gravitational lensing.
Einstein predicted that light should bend slightly
as it passes through the warped space-time of a massive body like a star
and this bending or a lensing effect should be observed
if one could see distant star light passing through the gravitational influence
of a closer massive body like the Sun.
Well, in 1919, Sir Arthur Eddington famously made this observation
during a total eclipse of the Sun on the African island of Principe.
He observed light from distant stars
bending through the gravitational influence of the Sun
and on that basis declared Einstein's theory be verified.
Of course the lensing effect has been observed many times since
as the powerful telescopes of our modern observatories see the light
of distant galaxies bend around the galaxies in the foreground.
It's quite common and it's taken for granted,
the effect is explained by Einstein's theory of gravitation.
But for a direct observation to be held as proof
requires it to be a phenomena that can be only explained by that theory.
A unique solution, in other words.
As I followed my own path of discovery in the Electric Universe,
it was essential to find a classical physics explanation for lensing,
otherwise how could I accept that general relativity can be disputed.
So I discovered the work of Dr. R. C. Gupta
at the Institute of Engineering and Technology in Lucknow, India
and wrote about it in the Thunderblog article, - Lensing by Refraction...not Gravity? -
to bring it to the attention of our readers.
Doctor Gupta's paper entitled,
- Bending of light Near a Star and Gravitational Red/Blue shift:
Alternative Explanation Based on Refraction of Light -
asserts that the theory behind gravitational lensing is wrong!
And that the lensing effect is actually caused by refraction
to the atmospheres of stars and galaxies.
Dr. Gupta shows that if you make certain assumptions about the density of a stellar atmosphere,
mathematically the equation Einstein
derived from general relativity to calculate gravitational lensing
can also be derived from the classical equations for the refraction.
Dr. Gupta shows, mathematically they are equivalent
but the physics behind it is quite different.
Refraction is classical optical physics.
Refraction occurs when light waves pass through matter with different densities
and it causes the light path to bend, we see this effect every day.
When we see a pole in a pool of water the pole appears bent
because the light is refracted as it passes through the water to the air.
We use refraction to bend and re-focus light in magnifying glasses, eyeglasses
and telescope lenses by passing light through the curved surfaces of a crystal.
Anyone who takes the first year physics course will learn that refraction is an
inevitable consequence when light passes from a medium of one density
to a medium of another density.
It is the kind of simple answer based on classical physics
that Electric Universe theory rigorously requires.
The concept of refractive lensing has also been discussed in Thunderbolts forums before.
Dr. Edward Dowdye Junior,
physicist and laser optics engineer formerly with NASA Goddard Space Center,
presented at the EU 2012 conference observations he made
of solar lensing at varying altitudes of the photosphere of the Sun
and he showed that the lensing effect varies as predicted by refraction
through an atmospheric gradient, not as predicted by gravitation.
In another observation he points the lack of gravitational lensing
observed in the stars that rapidly orbit the Milky Way's galactic center.
Big Bang Theory predicts there is a massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way
at the location known as Sagittarius A.
Astronomers have observed stars in fast elliptical orbits
around the galactic center for over a year, some having completed entire orbits.
Dr. Dowdye points out that light from these stars should lense
if there is a black hole there as predicted by general relativity.
The light should distort as the stars orbit close to the immense gravitational field
or the reported black hole.
But they don't exibit any optical distortion at all.
This is completely at odds with the predictions of general relativity
but mainstream cosmologist blithely ignore this inconvenient truth.
Dr. Gupta points to another optical effect
that is proof that lensing is caused by refraction and not gravity.
Diffraction is a natural consequence of refractive lensing.
As light refracts, its wavelengths or colors spread slightly.
This happens when light passes through a prism.
General relativity predicts no prismatic diffraction with gravitational lensing
since gravity warped spacetime it's supposed to bend wavelengths equally.
Well, there is a special case of lensing called the Einstein ring.
It occurs when the focal point of distant light is directed at the observer
in such a way that it creates a complete ring of light around the intervening Galaxy.
You can see the same effect when a full moon shines
through heightened clouds and creates a ring around the moon.
This is refraction of the moonlight to the ice crystals in the clouds.
This type of ring can be seen around galaxies too
when another bright galaxy shines from directly behind the other,
it's called an Einstein ring.
Einstein rings are always blue and mainstream cosmology has never been able to explain
why they're blue if they are caused by gravitational lensing.
The blue color is an indication of diffraction due to chromatic aberration,
the prism effect, which is a predicted consequence of refractive lensing.
Dr. Gupta's paper also goes on to postulate that gravitational attraction
is only between material bodies, bodies with mass,
and that light waves have no rest mass so cannot be affected by gravity.
This agrees with the EU theory and refute another pillar of Big Bang cosmology,
the phenomenon of Redshift.
Astronomers see the light of distant galaxies as redshifted,
its wavelength stretched in other words,
and attribut the effect to gravity and the expansion of the universe.
Big bang theory actually predicts three types of red shift.
First there is gravitational red shift caused by the pull of gravity on the light
which increases its wavelength as it leaves
the gravitational influence of the Galaxy it comes from.
Then there is Doppler red shift
caused by the Galaxy moving away from us in an expanding universe
causing the wavelength of the light to stretch
the same way the sound of a train whistle drops in tones as it races away,
causing its wavelength to stretch.
Finally they also predict a lightwave to stretch by the stretching in space itself
because the universe is expanding,
this is called cosmological redshift.
The refraction theory simply says, none of these convoluted explanations are true.
The physics of refraction says that the wavelength of light is stretched, redshifted,
because the speed of light is slowed as it passes through a denser medium.
This is because the speed of light is not a constant, it's a speed limit.
Light can be slowed down like they slow it in laboratory
by passing it through various mediums.
So, according to refraction theory, the speed of light is slowed by a medium
as it passes into and hence the light waves pile up like a traffic jam
decreasing the wavelength and causing a blue shift.
And when light leaves the denser medium like a galaxy
into the near zero density of intergalactic space,
it speeds up stretching the wavelengths into the red and this explains red shift
again with known classical physics.
Refraction theory really presents two alternative explanations
for phenomena commonly used as proof of general relativity, leansing and red shift.
As Wal Thornhill explains in, - Towards a Real Cosmology in the 21st Century -
the Electric Universe theorizes neutrinos from the Aether
can provide a mechanical substrate of the universe.
Neutrinos have mass, albeit very small,
and envelop stars and galaxies in a density gradient.
In addition we know stars and galaxies are plasma entities themselves
and are enveloped in plasma atmospheres.
At the time Einstein developed the theory of general relativity,
the pervasiveness of plasma atmospheres around stars and galaxies was not known,
nor had neutrino been observed.
It was thought, there was no medium to cause refraction in the vacuum of space.
Now we know about the plasma environment of stars and galaxies.
We know neutrinos pervade space.
It is inconceivable, in accordance with the classical physics of light and optics
that light, passing through a medium, does not experience refraction.
Nevertheless gravitational lensing is used by the mainstream
to study the presence of dark matter in galactic clusters.
Redshift is used to calculate the size of the universe and the rate of its expansion.
These are all concepts based on flawed assumptions that waste everyone's time.
Refraction is the actual cause of lensing and it needs to be recognized
that it refutes two of the major false assumptions behind Big Bang cosmology,
redshift and gravitational lensing.
It also points to the malleability of mathematics to describe anything.
Just because an equation can be made to work doesn't prove anything
unless the physics behind the equation is correct.
I think the biggest irony of this story is the fact that Sir Eddington
claimed to observe proof of gravitational lensing
using telescopes that work by refraction!
Apparently he never stopped to think about that.
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