Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter B
Er, light doesn't leave stars obliquely, does it? I thought it left perpendicular to the surface.
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You see the sun as a disc covering a circular area of the sky. If it only radiated light perpendicular to its surface, what would that imply about its shape?
The surface does emit preferentially in the normal direction, exhibiting limb darkening as a result (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mercury_transit_2.jpg), but it emits quite a bit in other directions as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter B
You seem to be suggesting that a star bends its own light, which doesn't make sense. I thought an object could only bend the light coming from another object.
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Light is light. It will follow the same path through space regardless of the object it originated from.
The diagram seems accurate. And yes, at a further distance, you will be able to see further around the horizon of the star. Note that there are parts that never become visible, light from those portions never being deflected enough to reach you, and that the effect is very weak for any but the most dense of objects. It might be visible in the intensity curve of pulsars...the "spot" would be visible slightly longer than otherwise.