DanTrentfield Posted May 25, 2017 Posted May 25, 2017 (edited) Optical doppler shift should help indicate if c is NOT constant. Hasn't light's speed value been recorded differently throughout the years (decades) (e.g. CRC HoP&C=Handbook of Physics & Chemistry)? 1. But at St Andrew's University: Professor Bonnell's astronomy students (were given a task, that) measured a "semi_anual" doppler_shift of star light. Explaination: (overview) http://supportto.michelsonexperiment.com Bonnell's task sheet: (4 pages) https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~bds2/ltsn/planetary.rtf Anti_Thesis: 2. Maxwell predicted Michelson experiments would fail, because the (2 bidirectional) delays would match (on earth); & (he=Maxwell) suggested (1_way) extraterrestrial observations (e.g. of planets, moons, stars) would confirm earth's speed v affecting light's speed c. Michelson's mirrors (5 cm wide) were wide enough to maintain reflection inspite of the v/c deflection (ratio) (+/-2.2 cm at v~30 km/s, path length D~11 m; but "divided by 8" mirrors!) so (almost=virtually) perfect cancellation was guaranteed. The (light) beam path should have been ab1a1; NOT aba1 in his (=Michelson's, pg 335) Fig 2 1887 paper, due to Huygen's wave front principle. (I.e. Straight up, diagonally down; NOT diagonally up, diagonally down: for a 90 degree incident, & <90 degree reflection wrt the b mirror.) 3. The significance is enormous for relativity (if), because Einstein's SR is based on 2 simple assumptions: light_speed's constancy; & the Fitzgerald_Lorentz contraction used to maintain assuming constant c. You make one huge assumption: Humans are perfect at measuring. You make another huge assumption: Scientists in the in eras when there was nothing to drink but beer weren't drunk (Or at least tipsy) when they measured. Finally I want to say this, Constants are very well defined and tested hundreds of thousands if not millions of times over the course of centuries, While in some cases things in science may be wrong, constants are almost always right because of the sheer amount of things they are used for, because they are constantly measured and tested. Edited May 25, 2017 by DanTrentfield
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