There is an extra perihelion precession of about 43 arcseconds per century for Mercury, which has long been regarded as the core observational evidence for the spacetime curvature in general relativity. Based on measured planetary data of the solar system, calculations using Newton’s law of universal gravitation, and comparative analysis of multiple planets, this paper presents a comprehensive and rigorous scientific challenge to the traditional explanation. By calculating the actual gravitational force of the Sun on Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, it is confirmed that gravitational calculations fully include the distance factor. Moreover, the gravitational force exerted by the Sun on Venus and Earth is much stronger than that on Mercury. According to the spacetime curvature theory, Venus and Earth should show far more significant precession effects, which is completely inconsistent with actual observations. Combined with the characteristics of the solar environment such as the solar corona, solar wind, and plasma, this paper demonstrates that the essence of Mercury’s perihelion precession is the disturbance of the material environment around the Sun. The phenomenon can be well explained without introducing spacetime curvature theory. The traditional theory has logical contradictions that cannot be self-consistent, and the so-called spacetime curvature is not a real physical force.
Jiaqing Yan (Tue,) studied this question.