Why is time out in space going slower than on Earth?

Answer 1

gravity distorts spacetime...spacetime meaning the 4-D universe which includes time as the fourth dimension.
this is why gravitational lensing works.

Its been proven that people who live high in the mountains age a little slow than people closer to sea level.

Answer 2

Where do you get this idea from?

Time is constant across the universe, the only way to slow down time, an illusion, is to travel at speeds close to those of the speed of light. From an observers point of view time is apparently going slower.

So where out there is time going slower?

Quantum physics tells us that time cannot stop or speed up, there can be an apparent difference because two observers are travelling away from each other, but this is down to relative position and not any disruption in time.

Answer 3

It may not be.

If by 'out in space' you mean away from strong gravity fields but not moving relative to us, then the time at that place is actually going faster than on earth. This is due to gravitational time dilation here.

On the other hand, if you are talking about time on an object that is moving quickly relative to us, like on a planet in a distant galaxy that is moving away from us, then we see their time as going more slowly than ours. Oddly enough, they would see our time as moving more slowly than theirs too. This is due to time dilation of relative motion.

Also, if you could see that distant planet, you would be looking at it in the distant past due simply to the time it takes for light to get here; but thats just older not slower.

Answer 4

It does not go slower. If it did it would be because everything else in space is moving faster relative to earthg.

Answer 5

I've always disagreed with my Physics lecturers and Einstein on this. My argument is that the experiments used to "prove" time dilation are flawed because they measure things which cannot be proved to be directly linked to time. The assumption that the vibrations of a caesium atom are ALWAYS identical on a quantum scale has always seemed unlikely to me. The fact that the possible existence of "ether" re-emerging after years of scorn (an idea I like, even if it is itself flawed) shows that long-held views on physics cannot necessarily be taken as immutable fact.

Answer 6

Things that move faster relative to us or undergo higher accelerations (including larger gravity) will appear to have slower clocks.

That is a prediction of Einsteins theory of general relativity.

Space is bound to have places that are faster or under higher acceleration ... so those places will appear to have 'slow clocks'.

But similarly there are plenty of places with less acceleration where it will seem like we are the one with slow clocks!

Answer 7

The rate at which you experience time (relative to somone else) is dictated by the different speeds you are travelling, not whether you are in space or anywhere else.

Answer 8

its either gravity(that apparently has an effect on time) or it is not and time is distorted slightly by the speeds needed to break out of the Earths atmosphere.
honestly though, i have no idea.

Answer 9

becoz the universe is expanding

Answer 10

djoldgee got it right - ditto!