<p>The deflection you are looking for is $\sim 1.7$ arc seconds, which should be within the seeing limits at a good site. It should also be within the resolution limits of a telescope with $\ge200$mm diameter primary.</p>

<p>Having said that you will not be able to see it with the naked eye, you will need to be able to photography the star field during the eclipse and again when it is visible at night and then do some arduous plate measuring and data reduction to detect the shifts of stars in the field.</p>

<p>So amateur equipment is up to detecting the bending of light around the Sun in a total eclipse, but if by witness you mean see the stars move with the naked eye the answer is almost certainly no.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-17T16:11:59.413Z
2016-05-17T16:11:59.413Z
Conrad Turner
<p>Yes.  The Tele Vue NP101is telescope, Finger Lakes Instrumentation Microline
ML8051 camera and Software Bisque MyT Paramount with matching tripod is "all" of the 2017 off-the-shelf amateur astronomy equipment you need to measure starlight-bending general relativity effects during a total solar eclipse ....plus a LOT of prep work and a LOT of data analysis!</p>

<p>Here's some articles of interest with details of how to measure GR light bending during a total eclipse:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.skyandtelescope.com/wp-content/uploads/Bruns-SAS2016-paper-v7.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.skyandtelescope.com/wp-content/uploads/Bruns-SAS2016-paper-v7.pdf</a></p>

<p><a href="http://w.astro.berkeley.edu/~kalas/labs/documents/kennefick_phystoday_09.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://w.astro.berkeley.edu/~kalas/labs/documents/kennefick_phystoday_09.pdf</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-07T19:53:38.770Z
Please ensure that you answer the question in the text of your response. Link only answers will be deleted.
James K
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-07T19:27:11.430Z
2017-05-07T20:47:32.393Z
2017-05-07T20:47:32.393Z
Ricky J Roberson
<p>Suppose an amateur astronomer finds himself watching Solar Eclipse. He can see the stars around totality. Is Sun's GR effect strong enough for the amateur astronomer to be able to tell that a particular star is appearing a few arc-degrees (or arcminutes, or arcseconds) away from where it should?</p>

<p>If not, what is the minimum requirement to be able to witness GR for yourself during a Solar Eclipse?</p>

<general-relativity><solar-eclipse>
Can we measure/detect GR light bending during solar eclipse using ordinary equipment?
fahadash
# Can we measure/detect GR light bending during solar eclipse using ordinary equipment?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-05-17)

Suppose an amateur astronomer finds himself watching Solar Eclipse. He can see the stars around totality. Is Sun's GR effect strong enough for the amateur astronomer to be able to tell that a particular star is appearing a few arc-degrees (or arcminutes, or arcseconds) away from where it should?

If not, what is the minimum requirement to be able to witness GR for yourself during a Solar Eclipse?

**Tags:** general-relativity, solar-eclipse


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-05-17. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

The deflection you are looking for is $\sim 1.7$ arc seconds, which should be within the seeing limits at a good site. It should also be within the resolution limits of a telescope with $\ge200$mm diameter primary.

Having said that you will not be able to see it with the naked eye, you will need to be able to photography the star field during the eclipse and again when it is visible at night and then do some arduous plate measuring and data reduction to detect the shifts of stars in the field.

So amateur equipment is up to detecting the bending of light around the Sun in a total eclipse, but if by witness you mean see the stars move with the naked eye the answer is almost certainly no.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2017-05-07. Score: 0

Yes. The Tele Vue NP101is telescope, Finger Lakes Instrumentation Microline
ML8051 camera and Software Bisque MyT Paramount with matching tripod is "all" of the 2017 off-the-shelf amateur astronomy equipment you need to measure starlight-bending general relativity effects during a total solar eclipse ....plus a LOT of prep work and a LOT of data analysis!

Here's some articles of interest with details of how to measure GR light bending during a total eclipse:

<http://www.skyandtelescope.com/wp-content/uploads/Bruns-SAS2016-paper-v7.pdf>

<http://w.astro.berkeley.edu/~kalas/labs/documents/kennefick_phystoday_09.pdf>

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Please ensure that you answer the question in the text of your response. Link only answers will be deleted.  

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