Measurement of the Solar Gravitational Deflection of Radio Waves Using Very-Long-Baseline Interferometry

D. E. Lebach, B. E. Corey, I. I. Shapiro, M. I. Ratner, J. C. Webber, A. E. E. Rogers, J. L. Davis, and T. A. Herring
Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 1439 – Published 21 August 1995
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Abstract

We made very-long-baseline-interferometry observations of the extragalactic radio sources 3C273B and 3C279 to measure the gravitational deflection of radio waves by the Sun. Cross-correlation of data recorded at antennas in California and Massachusetts at 2, 8, and 23 GHz during a ten-day period surrounding the October 1987 solar occultation of 3C279 yielded plasma-corrected group delays, from which we obtained γ=0.9996±0.0017 (estimated standard error), corresponding to a gravitational deflection 0.9998±0.0008 times that predicted by general relativity.

  • Received 14 April 1995

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.75.1439

©1995 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

D. E. Lebach1, B. E. Corey2, I. I. Shapiro1, M. I. Ratner1, J. C. Webber2, A. E. E. Rogers2, J. L. Davis1, and T. A. Herring3

  • 1Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
  • 2Northeast Radio Observatory Corporation, Haystack Observatory, Westford, Massachusetts 01886
  • 3Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

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Issue

Vol. 75, Iss. 8 — 21 August 1995

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