1676, Roemer (c=d/t) to 1728, Bradley (d=v/t). -- Millennium Call For Papers

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 08:29:07 12/10/99 Fri
Author: Doc C, PhD co
Subject: 1676, Roemer (c=d/t) to 1728, Bradley (d=v/t).

Galileo, the Founder of Modern Science; resolved every previous unsolved phenomenon he attempted; except one:
the finite velocity of light. The water clock (at approximately each second of time, a drop of water fell from a container !?) prohibited any measurement of his mountain top to mountain top experiments! Thus Galileo came to the conclusion that the velocity of light, on Earth is practically instantaneous. ---- Newton in 1675 considered light 'corpuscular' but could not resolve its finite velocity.---
In 1676, Ole Christensen Roemer, while studying the motions
within our Solar System. Recorded time differences, when the moons of Jupiter would appear as they revolved around Jupiter. He therefore made careful recordings of the times
of a moon circling Jupiter and the time its (reflected) light, from that moon, to reached the Earth as the Earth revolved around the Sun. By the straightforward formula of (let c = the velocity of light) c will equal the distance (d) of the Earth's 'circular' orbit of the Sun, divided by the time (t) in seconds that it takes for light to travel that diameter !
Said diameter had been approximated to be 186,000,000 miles.
Roemer's 'modern' clock approximated the time to be 998.9 seconds. Thus per c=d/t = 186,000,000/998.9 = 186,200 miles/sec.! --- The diameter of the Earth is approximately
8,000 miles. Thus, light flashes past the Earth in less than 0.05 of a second ! Practically 'instantaneous'!---
Newton published "Principia" in 1687. ---
In 1728, nearly a century after Galileo, James Bradley made
this remarkable discovery. By taking the vector sum of the orbital velocity (v) of the Earth. And the free-space velocity of light (c): he explained the aberration of light from stars; by showing that the angle of aberration was a function of the ratio of these velocities: v/c.--- On this basis he also showed that the revolution of the Earth around the Sun correctly accounted for the observed cyclic change in the aberration of starlight. --- {The anti-Galileans, still numerous at that time, were unable to refute this explanation of the cyclic change. --- Further, d = v/c appears to demonstrate that the value of the velocity of light depends on the motion of the observer.}

Doc C, PhD co

tc could not resolve the finite velocity of light. -

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]