De Sitter Double Star Experiment
The de Sitter effect was described by de Sitter in 1913 and used to support the special theory of relativity against a competing 1908 emission theory by Walter Ritz that postulated a variable speed of light. De Sitter showed that Ritz's theory predicted that the orbits of binary stars would appear more eccentric than consistent with experiment and with the laws of mechanics. A similar effect was already described by Daniel Frost Comstock in 1910. See also Tests of special relativity.
Read more about De Sitter Double Star Experiment: The Effect
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