X iv : g r - qc / 0 21 21 21 v 3 1 8 Fe b 20 03 The Post - Newtonian Treatment of the VLBI Experiment on September 8 , 2002

Gravitational physics of VLBI experiment conducted on September 8, 2002 and dedicated to measure the speed of gravity is treated in the first post-Newtonian approximation. Explicit speed-of-gravity parameterization is introduced to the Einstein equations to single out the retardation effect caused by the finite speed of propagation of gravity in the relativistic time delay of light, passing through the variable gravitational field of the solar system. The propagation-of-gravity 1.5 postNewtonian correction to the Shapiro time delay is derived and compared with our previous result obtained by making use of the post-Minkowskian approximation. We confirm that the 1.5 post-Newtonian correction to the Shapiro delay depends on the speed of propagation of gravity cg that is a directly measurable parameter in the VLBI experiment.