when a photon from a distant star arrives on earth, it has not aged.
does this mean that it has not traveled through time at all, but only space?
thanks!
2007-01-10 08:35:36 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
You can only say that it has not aged from the point of reference of the photon.
It has, infact travelled through time exactly as long as it took for it to get here.
If you could travel at the speed of light and return to earth, you would appear the same age as when you left. However, because time will have "marched on" some measureable amount on earth, you most definitely will have the sense of having "traveled through time" by that amount.
2007-01-10 08:43:11 · answer #1 · answered by Jerry P 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, consider the famous slit experiment where they fired a single photon thru a slit and two points of the target were hit. Look on Wikipedia
2007-01-10 08:38:48 · answer #2 · answered by kellenraid 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Photons are not "Unimaginably small". Their 'size' is defined by their wavelength which can be in the meters range. That 'size determines the materials they will interact with and are therefore 'opaque' to that wavelength.
2016-05-23 06:07:38 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋