IS this right? [black hole slowing light]

[digger_uk]

Ok if black holes trap light and bend it could it be possible that through a scope distance could be distorted ie like a shoe lace bent round fingers ? and that if a black hole can trap light it can slow it ? so in 10 light years it may seem one distance but if you traveled 10 light years in a straight line you would cover much further and that these structers of huge mass can bend our other forms of light so we still have no true mesurement? lol i bet you folks know this off by heart i would love some good books to read to describe these events if poss cheers.

Digger_uk

[spratleyj]

I'm not sure what your asking, but I would recommend Kip Thorne's Black Holes and Time Warps, as its quite good at explaining the basics of black holes.

[astromark]

digger_uk ... "IS this right?" and...NO. its not. A better understanding of what a black hole is would stop you asking. The famous Stephen Hawking's 'A brief history of time' and the book by Kip Thorn will help you., or just a good read in 'Wikipedia'
By the force of gravity the very nuclear structures are disassembled by the crushing force. Its wrong to think of a black hole as any thing other than a massive density. Not recommended for bending or transport of anything...

[Noclevername]

Light is bent by gravity-- it's called Gravitational Lensing, and it's used in astronomy to observe distant objects by using massive bodies such as the Sun to help focus light. See here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_lens#Applications) for some idea of how this process works.