Relative Distance: Traveling at .9c

[nate808]

If I am traveling at a good fraction of the speed of light (.9c for example) toward an object, how would the distance between the object and myself from my viewpoint compare to the that of an observers viewpoint

 

[selfAdjoint]

If I am traveling at a good fraction of the speed of light (.9c for example) toward an object, how would the distance between the object and myself from my viewpoint compare to the that of an observers viewpoint

I presume you mean traveling at that speed with respect to the observer and that the observer is at rest with respect to your destination; you always have to state your frames of reference. So if you were traveling a .866c relative to this observer (I picked that value because its numbers come out nice) then your measurement of the distance to the object would be just half of what the observer would measure. If he said "that ship is 2 light years from its goal" you would be saying "I have only one light year to go."

 

[Entropia]

From your viewpoint, the distance between yourself and the object would appear to be shorter than it would from the viewpoint of an observer who is not moving at such a high speed. This is due to the effects of time dilation and length contraction, which are consequences of Einstein's theory of relativity.

According to time dilation, time appears to pass slower for objects that are moving at high speeds. As you are traveling at .9c, time will be passing slower for you compared to an observer who is stationary. This means that the distance between yourself and the object will appear to be shorter because time is passing at a slower rate for you.

Length contraction, on the other hand, states that objects appear shorter in the direction of motion for an observer who is moving at high speeds. So, from your viewpoint, the object will appear to be shorter in distance compared to an observer who is not moving at .9c.

In summary, traveling at .9c will make the distance between yourself and the object appear shorter due to the effects of time dilation and length contraction. This phenomenon is known as relative distance, where the distance between two objects appears different from different points of view.