Do we see things slower the further away they are?

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In summary, if space would expand with 70kms/mpc and we would be able to observe an event 10mpc away, would two photons coming from the event separated at the event by 1 second arrive with a time separation of 1 + (10*70/c) on our location?
  • #1
EmileJ
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So if space would expand with 70kms/mpc and we would be able to observe an event 10mpc away, would two photons coming from the event separated at the event by 1 second arrive with a time separation of 1 + (10*70/c) on our location?

Asking this to see if I understand some of this expansion. I guess in reality you would be lucky if both photons arrive over such a fast distance and encounter so many different influences that this delay is not measurable.
 
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  • #2
The expression for the time difference is not the one you are quoting except for very recent times, but in general yes. This is a direct result of redshift.

EmileJ said:
mpc
You probably mean Mpc here. There is a factor of ##10^9## difference between 1 Mpc and 1 mpc.

Also note that 10 Mpc is not much larger than the size of the local galactic group. Galaxy clusters are gravitationally bound objects and at those scales the universe does not expand. You need to go to larger scales than that.
 
  • #3
Thanks for answering.
Yes I ment Mpc where I wrote mpc :oops:.
So for a more realistic example I would have to use Gpc? At that scale I cannot simply use 70 km s−1Mpc−1 anymore because this varies over time? Or did I make more wrong assumptions?
 
  • #4
EmileJ said:
So if space would expand with 70kms/mpc and we would be able to observe an event 10mpc away, would two photons coming from the event separated at the event by 1 second arrive with a time separation of 1 + (10*70/c) on our location?

Asking this to see if I understand some of this expansion. I guess in reality you would be lucky if both photons arrive over such a fast distance and encounter so many different influences that this delay is not measurable.
As Orodruin, yes, the concept here is accurate. The way you actually do the math is you look at the redshift and how it relates to distance.

At ##z=1##, which means the wavelengths have doubled (##\lambda_o = (1+z)\lambda_e##), two photons emitted sequentially will be twice as far apart by the time they arrive, and if they were emitted one second apart, then they will arrive two seconds apart.

The rate of expansion is related to the redshift, in that the rate of expansion is conceptually a derivative of the redshift, though the precise definition is slightly more complicated. I'm not sure it's worthwhile going into precisely how redshift relates to distance, but an easy thing to do is to just use Ned Wright's cosmology calculator and enter different redshifts:
http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/CosmoCalc.html

It'll tell you the amount of time it took the light to travel, how far away the object was when the light was emitted ("angular size distance"), how far away it is today ("comoving radial distance"), as well as a few other stats.
 

What causes objects to appear slower the further away they are?

The apparent slowing down of objects as they become more distant is due to the speed of light. Light travels at a finite speed, so the further the distance an object is from us, the longer it takes for the light from that object to reach our eyes. This delay in the arrival of light causes the object to appear slower than it actually is.

Is there a limit to how slow objects can appear when they are far away?

Yes, there is a limit to how slow objects can appear as they become more distant. This limit is determined by the speed of light, as it is the fastest possible speed at which information can travel. Therefore, no matter how far away an object is, it cannot appear slower than the speed of light.

Why do objects appear to move faster when they are closer to us?

Objects appear to move faster when they are closer to us because the light from those objects takes less time to reach our eyes. This gives us the perception that the object is moving at a faster rate than it actually is. As the object moves further away, the light takes longer to reach our eyes, making it appear to move slower.

Does our brain play a role in how we perceive the speed of objects?

Yes, our brain plays a significant role in how we perceive the speed of objects. Our brain processes the information received from our eyes and interprets it in a way that makes sense to us. This can sometimes result in a distorted perception of the actual speed of objects, especially when they are far away.

Does the size of an object affect how fast it appears to move?

Yes, the size of an object can affect how fast it appears to move. This is because larger objects cover more distance in a shorter amount of time, making them appear to move faster. However, size is not the only factor that affects the perceived speed of an object, as distance and the speed of light also play a significant role.

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