Genesis 6 Science, Mathematics, Quantum Physics

Wrong Ideas - Infinite Speed of Light

The speed of light itself has been a matter of confusion and controversy. Philosophers and scientists including Kepler, Descartes and Galileo used reasoned arguments that the speed of light was instantaneous. In 1676, Danish astronomers Ole Ramer made observations about the orbit f Jupiter’s moon (Io). Io’s whirling spin around Jupiter takes just 42 1/2 hours per revolution, and the precise time Io disappears behind Jupiter can be measured. Ramer found that it took longer for the reflective light from Io to reach the Earth when Jupiter was far away from Earth than it took when Jupiter was near. This meant the light could not be arriving to the Earth instantaneously; it took a few minutes. Ramer sent his data to his friend Dutch astronomer and mathematician Christiaan Huygens, who calculated that light sped along at 16 2/3 Earth-diameters per second - about 132,000 miles per second. This value was off by about 1/3 of the correct value of 186,000 miles per second, because the exact distance of the planets was not known at that time, but Huygens got into the right ballpark.