As far as the stars photon is concerned, it did follow a straight line to get here.
But we noticed it went near to our sun to do so and Einstein noticed space itself is warped around the sun, so we see the photon as having changed direction slightly.
That's why it's called relativity, the photon didn't notice anything on the way here but we did. It's relative to who does the measuring.
BTW, the 1.7 arcsecond deflection is for photons that just graze the edge of the sun, the further out you get the less deflection. The effect has been noticed with starlight, radio waves from quasars, and even our space probes as they arc behind the sun. In that last example there are also time effects we can discern from the accurate signals our probes send.
Gamma rays moving upwards from earth's surface have been demonstrated to be measurably weakened by earth's gravitational field, btw. An amazingly delicate and subtle experiment. As I recall the effect was noticeable in a height of around 50 feet.
But we noticed it went near to our sun to do so and Einstein noticed space itself is warped around the sun, so we see the photon as having changed direction slightly.
That's why it's called relativity, the photon didn't notice anything on the way here but we did. It's relative to who does the measuring.
BTW, the 1.7 arcsecond deflection is for photons that just graze the edge of the sun, the further out you get the less deflection. The effect has been noticed with starlight, radio waves from quasars, and even our space probes as they arc behind the sun. In that last example there are also time effects we can discern from the accurate signals our probes send.
Gamma rays moving upwards from earth's surface have been demonstrated to be measurably weakened by earth's gravitational field, btw. An amazingly delicate and subtle experiment. As I recall the effect was noticeable in a height of around 50 feet.
The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it.
