We have been told that it would take 4 years travelling at the speed of light to reach the nearest star (other than the sun). We are also told that the faster we travel, time is dilated, ie a pilot of a spaceship traveling at close to the speed of light would percieve time differently to an observer on Earth. So the questions is, from who's perspective would it take 4 year to reach the nearest star, the pilot or the earthbound observer?
2006-09-29 04:29:17 · 11 answers · asked by topeuph 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
The answer is obvious to anyone who has studied Einstein's theory of general relativity. The person on earth would perceive the trip to Proxima Centauri as taking over four years. To the pilot of the ship, it would seem much less time depending upon how close he came to the speed of light. If he could travel at light speed, no time would pass to him. At 90% light speed, 1.74 years would pass. At 95% the speed of light 1.25 years would pass. 0.57 years would pass at 99% the speed of light.
2006-09-29 05:15:14 · answer #1 · answered by miyuki & kyojin 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That would take 4 years according to an Earthbound observer. It would be less for the pilot. How much less would depend on how fast the space ship was traveling. If it could travel at exactly the speed of light, it would seem to the pilot to take 0 time since time stops at the speed of light.
2006-09-29 04:49:58 · answer #2 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As an object or person is accelerated toward the speed of light time slows down for it/him.
This property leads to the "twins" effect: Twin brothers live on Earth. One brother takes a trip to a distant star traveling at a high percentage of the speed of light. When the twin returns he will be younger than his brother because for him time slowed down during the trip.
This effect, called "time dilation," helps explain why the speed of light is the same no matter how fast you are going. As a traveler accelerates time slows down for him. This, in turn, affects his measurements.
The twin on earth will see his brother again in 8 years. The traveler will experience this as shorter.
2006-09-29 05:22:07 · answer #3 · answered by DanE 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, neutrinos do not attain mild speed. The scifi activity in neutrinos from the 50's became approximately reactionless or quite probably reactionless drives yet quite, the biggest available neutrino source we could probably conceive might produce a tiny fraction of the thrust from a flashlight and would desire to not be directed in anybody direction. The few experiments which confirmed speeds larger than the fee of sunshine are believed to be length errors. As to interstellar return and forth. era ships are available in with contemporary technologies, sleeper and seed ships are available in with close to term technologies as are digitally stored group. The Alcubierre rigidity concept purely demonstrates that if area would desire to be compressed outdoors a hemisphere in front of pocket of area time and greater outdoors a hemisphere in the back of the pocket then the pocket would desire to pass on the fee of sunshine. all of us understand that black holes compress area from all instructions and the increasing universe is a relentless fee of strengthen by way of the universe that provides us no indication as to how those outcomes would desire to be directed.
2016-10-18 04:51:57 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is from the perspective of the earth bound observer. It's a bit like being 2000ft up a mountain. Is it 2000ft from the next hill, or from sea level? From sea level of course, so all space observations are taken from an earth bound point. I don't think it matters what distance above sea level you are on earth in this case.
2006-09-29 04:42:29 · answer #5 · answered by Stookie2 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the boring answer would be the observer on earth and presumeably an observer from alpha proxima but space and time
are really the same thing..meaning that space/time itself exists in some form of media which is how come we can bend it with black holes and things...string theory says that maybe this infinite universe we call home exists on a vibration loop of energy as small as a football compared to our solar system as the bit of string to a hydrogen atom...but it's all just a speck in god's splintered eye...who knows
2006-09-29 08:45:57 · answer #6 · answered by mark b 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
it would take 4 years from a observer's perspective
2006-09-29 06:06:06 · answer #7 · answered by helenagilchrist@btinternet.com 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The pilot in the spaceship
2006-09-29 04:40:37 · answer #8 · answered by me 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Those time calculations are factored from the perspective of an observer, not from the perspective of object that is moving.
2006-09-29 04:54:19 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Great question, food for thought.
2006-09-29 04:32:14 · answer #10 · answered by angel 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋