Gravity and Time

[Mortartube]

I was watching a programme on TV last night that basically said the further away from a gravitational field that you go, the faster time runs. They used the timing on GPS satellites as an example, the clocks run slightly faster than the ones on Earth surface do.

My question is this. If time runs faster the further away from gravitational forces, i.e planets or a star. Is there a designated place in space (the universe) that is used as a reference point for "True time", where time would be least affected by any gravity and therefore considered to be running at it's fastest.

I hope that this makes sense.

[Loosehead]

No, everywhere is effected by gravity. However from a local point of view the distortion is so tiny it makes no difference.

[Mortartube]

Right. I just wondered if someone like NASA would select a point in the univers as a reference to be likely to be least affected by gravity for the speed of time purposes.

[Loosehead]

Good question but I don't think there is anywhere that is gravity free. Infact 95% of the universe is dark matter/energy, the existance of which is only detectable by the effect of it's gravity in mathematical equations that explain how galaxies and clusters thereof have sufficient cohesion to remain so.

Don't forget that time is also dialated by speed and as we know speed is relative so even if there was such a place it would be effected by the relative speed of the observers so would not have the desired effect.

In a nutshell, the passing of time is variable dependent on gravity and relative motion.

[Mortartube]

Thanks for the answers.