I was looking at how our solar system works and see that essentially the curvature from space and gravity or, lack of creates the movement of our planetary systems. I couldn’t seem to make sense of the details of how space is similar to a fabric and can be shaped in some way.
The example used was the age old blanket with a bowling ball in the center creating a wide curvature leading to the edges of the blanket.
How is this possible but can’t be seen, nor does it cause friction?
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The fact is that space-time isn’t similar to a fabric.
First of all, fabric is two-dimensional in this example (the thickness is negligible). Space-time is three-dimensional (actually more, but for all practical purposes let’s stay at 3D). And you don’t observe space-time from outside, you’re in it, actually part of it. And so are the celestial bodies.
So stars and planets don’t “sink” into a space-time plane. They bend the space all around them. Including the space you’re occupying – as opposed to being outside of the “fabric” that you’re observing.
And you can’t normally see this because space-time isn’t visible. And it’s very, very weak. You can measure it with some instruments. Or you can observe the effects it has on matter (well, actually on energy but let’s not digress). You can’t really see things being “bent” around Earth because it’s too small and the effect is weak and your POV is bad.
You can observe the gravitational lens effect of distant black holes, which are comparatively very strong and can bend light enough that you can see the distortion effect. Although this is not exactly the same phenomenon, it is the closest you can get to seeing this effect with your eyes (well, actually through specific instruments once again).
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