Speed of Gravity To Be Measured

Astronomers at the worlds largest radio telescopes are gearing up to measure the speed of gravity.It is the first attempt to verify a key prediction of Einsteins theory of general relativity, which says that nothing, not even the influence of gravity itself, can travel faster than light.No one has ever tested this prediction, even though the assumption that gravity travels in waves or gravitons with a finite speed underpins much of theoretical physics. The difficulty is that if light and gravity travel at the same speed, how can you hope to see evidence of gravitys speed?The answer, says Sergei Kopeikin of the University of Missouri, Columbia, is by watching a distant quasar as the planet Jupiter moves in front of it and its gravity bends radio waves from the quasar. This event is due to happen over the weekend of September 7 and 8. "When I first gave a talk about the idea everybody got excited and said we have to do this," says Kopeikin.
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