thank you for your replies. however, no one addressed the fact that as orbital radius decreases, velocity increases. and that should not be possible for light.

thank you for your replies. however, no one addressed the fact that as orbital radius decreases, velocity increases. and that should not be possible for light. In fact, the whole idea of light bending around a gravity well does not seem to follow the rules of orbital mechanics. Masses that come close to a massive body get a velocity boost and a slingshot to their new course. I would suspect that photons are boosted to a higher energy state and thus get a frequency boost as they are accelerated radially since they cannot get a speed boost. And more energetic photons would be more apt to return to a wider orbit-reaching an equilibrium of their orbital path.