if a person was traveling to Earth from a distant point 500 light-years away and they were traveling at the speed of light, to the person on Earth would it seem to take the traveler 500 years to reach here? and to the traveler would it still seem and appear to him to take 500 years to reach Earth, even though to a person on Earth the traveler wouldn't have seemed to "age"? understand the question? by the person on Earth's time standards, to and from back to Earth at the speed of light, would appear not to age the traveler 500 years, so does the traveler experience the 500 year time spance traveling at the speed of light?
2007-10-28 12:52:49 · 3 answers · asked by Courageous Capt. Cat 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHC8z6ULs18
2007-10-28 14:54:22 · answer #1 · answered by Mercury 2010 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The way I understand it, to the person on Earth it would take 500 years to reach here. To the person on the spacecraft it would not take 500 years. He or she would not age at all. Hence, the twins paradox.
Also, to the person on Earth, if he or she could see the wristwatch on the traveller, he or she would see that the wristwatch has stopped. To the astronaut the wristwatch would be working normally.
It's all very confusing because there is NOTHING in day-to-day life corresponding to the effects of light-speed travel.
2007-10-28 21:38:40 · answer #2 · answered by David A 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The passage of time would be relative. By your wrist watch it might only take 50 years or 5 years to reach Earth.
2007-10-28 20:07:39 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋