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Aberration of light

Astronomy 80 Ursae MajorisAberration of starlight

Aberration of light
The aberration of light (also referred to as astronomical aberration or stellar aberration) is an astronomical phenomenon which produces an apparent motion of celestial objects.

 


ABERRATION OF LIGHT
The is a phenomenon in which light appears to be slanted (the angle at which the light appears to be coming is different than the angle at which it's actually coming) if the observer is in motion.

The stellar movement proved too insignificant for his telescope, but he instead discovered the aberration of light and the nutation of the Earth's axis.

James Bradley was an English astronomer, Astronomer Royal from 1742. He is best known for discovering the aberration of light while attempting to detect stellar parallax....
, but was not explained until 20 years later.

This "aberration of light", as it is called, was observed to be about 1/200 of a degree. Bradley calculated the speed of light as about 298,000 kilometres per second (186,000 miles per second).

Further, James Bradley discovered in 1728 the annual shifting of the stars due to the aberration of light (see Aberration), and in 1748, the complicating effects upon precession of the " nutation " of the earth's axis.

See also: Orbit, Astronomy, Earth, Planet, Year

Astronomy 80 Ursae MajorisAberration of starlight

 
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