As I understand,we are able to see things around us by light rays reflecting off of objects. So therefore if an object was travelling at the speed of light the light rays would not be able to bounce off of it and we would not be able to see it?
2006-10-20 08:32:48 · 21 answers · asked by bigsmall 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Sounds about right to me.
Light travels at the speed of light, and you cannot see light.
You can see surfaces that get illuminated by the light when it strikes them, but you cannot see the light itself.
So as an object crosses the boundary from sub-lightspeed to lightspeed, it's state would have to transform from matter into energy, effectively converting it into light. And that means you wouldn't see it until it collides with a surface, slowing back down to sub-lightspeed again.
2006-10-20 08:46:37 · answer #1 · answered by Swampy_Bogtrotter 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't have any refference, but according to my own logic, you should still be able to see it (assuming the object is big enough to see with naked eye). In theory, all lights we see reflecting through an object (thus creating image of the object) are the lights of the past. How long in the past? VERY VERY recent. Although light travel very fast and considered the fastest thing, it still need time to travel. For example, the light of the sun we see now is actually the light of the sun 8 minutes ago. So although it travels very fast, it still need time to reach its destination, in this case, our eyes. And yes, the object would seem like it were stretched. An example of this is when USS Enterprise from Star Trek accelerate, we see it stretched. When this object's coming straight at you, you wouldn't see it at all, because the light that reflects from the object arrive at you the same time as the object.
2006-10-20 10:29:58 · answer #2 · answered by Marcus 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
An object cannot travel at the speed of light. It is an upper bound on real matter. There are some theoretical particles that can travel FASTER than the speed of light ...but that's about it. If you do the math, and something is travelling at or faster than the speed of light....your frame of reference is incorrect.
An object travelling at ' close to ' the speed of light would be visible....although it would be horribly distorted ( like stretching a rubber band..it gets longer and thinner ). If it was visible in the first place ( ie, not a particle ) , then you should be able to see it.
2006-10-20 08:45:53 · answer #3 · answered by Tony D 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
no
you can hear an airplane that is traveling faster than the speed of sound.
if something were traveling at the speed of light tward you,
it would look as if it appeared right next to you, and flew off in both directions at the same time
( the light from when it was coming just catching up to you.
it doesn't matter how fast it is traveling, stuff will still bounce off it
of course,
if you have seen a fan blade running, you can't see it,
something that fast would not register in our mind before it was gone,
2006-10-20 08:42:49 · answer #4 · answered by papeche 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
from left to right or right to left yes it would. But if the object is coming towards or going away from you, then you could see it or a blur. That is if the distant is great such as traveling in space a couple million miles away. If the distant is short such as a mile, a human could not see it due to the fact that it takes 3/16 of a second for the information and reaction to take place in the mind.
2006-10-20 11:40:26 · answer #5 · answered by TOM P 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Theoretically, only things with no mass can travel at the speed of light. Therefore there would be nothing to see in the first place.
2006-10-20 08:41:39 · answer #6 · answered by Chimbles 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't think it would be possible at least for this century, i mean a object moving at that speed is something needs to be worked upon for years... and as i understand we humans have a unique eye power by which even the light speed could be caught by our eye sight provided its an object......
2006-10-20 08:48:01 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The object would need infinite energy to travel at the speed of light if it weighed anything at all, so I doubt it would happen.
If an object could travel at said speed, if you stood in front of it, you would not see it untill it hit you, because it is traveling at a speed the same as the light reflected from it??
if behind it you would see it closer?? than it is at that point in time, you would see the past?? I'm only guessing.
2006-10-20 08:36:21 · answer #8 · answered by iusedtolooklikemyavatar 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
If a person was traveling at the speed of light, everyone around him would be almost completely motionless, and that person would be invisible.
2006-10-20 08:42:03 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually no it would not become invisible. According to Einsteins theory the vehicle traveling at light speed would actually become infinately larger.
2006-10-20 08:42:44 · answer #10 · answered by Russ D 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋