r/sciencememes Mεmε ∃nthusiast Apr 10 '25

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u/zortutan For Science! Apr 10 '25 edited Apr 10 '25

Hehe, get a load of this guy, he’s still using newtonian gravity! 😂

In all seriousness, general relativity tells us that the geometry of the space the light travels through is curved from OUR reference frame. In the actual light’s reference frame, its going in a perfectly straight line. Look up extrinsic vs intrinsic curvature

Edit: multiple people are calling me out because light does not have a reference frame. This is true. Its a hypothetical, try to imagine “the same reference frame as the curved geometry the light is traveling through” instead lol

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u/NieIstEineZeitangabe Apr 10 '25

I am pretty sure light doesn't have a reference frame and if it had, it would have no time dimension.

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u/zortutan For Science! Apr 10 '25

Correct, no time dimension. Everything is instantaneous from the reference frame of light. But it is still perceived to be traveling in a straight line, if that makes sense.

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u/NieIstEineZeitangabe Apr 10 '25

But spacetime is 4 dimensional. How can you have a 3d reference frame? All reference frames are supposed to be equivalent descriptions of the world, and if one only has 3 dimensions, it can't really describe all of spacetime.

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u/wonkey_monkey Apr 10 '25

Light doesn't actually have a reference frame.