Eli5 If space is curved in many locations because of big objects and stuff, how do we know where an observed light originates then?

Question

If it passes in/by those gravitation fields, it must (I guess) also change direction at least slightly?

In: 43

Answer 1

Imagine that you are standing in a large field (this would be planet earth) and you have a friend way out in the distant part of the field shining a flashlight back at you (this is the star in this example). When you point to this flashlight, it’s in a specific direction that everyone can agree on. So how much of an impact does this location change mean when the flashlight is moved slightly to the side about 5 feet? Not much…because of the distance between the observer and the flashlight, the relative change in position is negligible given the distances involved. From your perspective the light is still <points with finger> over there.