/sci/ - Science & Math

>>10964366
Nope. Mercury's elliptical path around the Sun shifts slightly with each orbit such that its closest point to the Sun (or "perihelion") shifts forward with each pass. Newton's theory had predicted an advance only half as large as the one actually observed. Einstein's predictions exactly matched the observation. Yu need relativity to fully account for what we observe at Mercury, he closest planet to the sun where the curvature of spaces is most pronounced.

Historical side-note. After Neptune was discovered by identifying and trying to account for perturbations in the orbit of Uranus, many astronomers seized on the known oddities of Mercury's orbit as evidence that a planet (dubbed Vulcan) must have been tucked between the Sun and Mercury. Attempts were made repeatedly to find the planet by scanning near the sun during eclipses. During the eclipse of 1878, it was "spotted" by an astronomer, "confirmed" by another at an independent location, and widely accepted as a major new discovery. Later attempts to re-sight Vulcan were unsuccessful, and further review discovered discrepancies and inaccuracies in the original sightings. But the search continued sporadically until Einstein's relativity accounted for Mercuries odd orbit -- making Vulcan not only unnecessary, but indicating that the inner planet could not exist, because there were no longer any of the effects it would have to have had on Mercury.

Additional shorter side note: Edison, bete noir of our Teslaposting brothers, was also an observer of the 1878 eclipse. Trying to establish a reputation as not just an inventor and tinkerer, but as a serious contributor ro science, he built a device, the Tasimeter, which he hoped would be useful in measuring the heat of the corona,and possibly distant stars. The device succeeded in showing the corona to be very hot, but could not really be meaningfully calibrated to measure that heat and was never really used afterwards.

For those who saw the recent total eclipse, Regulus, in Leo, was the bright star just east of the sun.