Time dilation and the pioneer spacecraft

[Freyman]

I've been thinking about this for a while but never got around to asking this. This has two parts.

First, I understand that time and matter are closely related and that time slows down when in proximity to more matter. So, time on the moon is faster than time on Earth and time on Jupiter is slower than time on earth.

Second, I'm under the impression that the pioneer spacecraft s, the ones that were launched in 1973 and left the solar system are both accelerating in an unforeseen manner. Could this observed speed increase possibly be due to the lack of relative proximity to matter and time is becoming faster around the pioneer spacecraft s..hence the speed increase?

Let me explain. Let's say it takes 5 seconds to cross from point a to point b at a speed of 1 kph. While it still takes the same 5 seconds to cross from point a to point b at a speed of 1 kph, say time is now faster due to lack of matter in proximity wherein 5 seconds from point a to point b is observed from Earth as 3 seconds. While it still took 5 seconds to go from point a to point b, I observed from Earth that only took 3 seconds b\c of the way time works, so it appeared faster.

Basically, I assume this due to the causal association that time slows when in proximity to matter and the opposite in conditions of less matter..so the obvious lack of matter outside to solar system compared to within it should cause time to go faster, hence observable speed should increase from Earth of any moving objects.

This brings a lot of other interesting possibilities too..like if something moving at just under the speed of light in conditions where time is faster could be observed from Earth as moving faster than light even though the object itself is only moving at just under the speed of light because of the way time works. Also, matter between galaxies would appear from Earth as moving very very fast b\c of a relative lack of matter compared to within galaxies.

Or..am i completely offbase with all this?

 

[yuiop]

To a certain extent you are right. To an distant observer high above a planet with a strong gravitational pull an object moving upwards from the surface, with constant velocity relative to a series of stationary local markers would appear to be speeding up. The converse is true and to the observer on the surface the object would appear to be slowing down. The effect is a slight additional acceleration towards the centre according to an observer near the centre. The problem is that the pioneer data has been re-analysed taking General Relativity into account which should include the effect you describe and yet the anomally still remains. Not having access to the raw data we have to assume they did the analysis correctly.

Another issue is that far out in the solar system are large meteorite fields that largely have a disk distribution. The gravity at the edge of a disk is a function of GM/R rather than the usual GM/R^2 and drops off less rapidly than a purely spheriacal distribution of matter. One has to assume that hese effects have also been taken into account but it is worth noting that no one is exactly sure of the total mass, extent and distibution of the meteor fields at the furthest reaches of the solar system.

 

[Entropia]

Your understanding of time dilation is correct - time slows down in the presence of more matter. This is known as gravitational time dilation and is a well-established concept in physics. However, the time dilation effect is very small in our everyday lives and is only noticeable in extreme conditions, such as near a black hole.

Regarding the Pioneer spacecrafts, their observed speed increase is not due to time dilation. The increase in speed is most likely due to a combination of factors, including the gravitational pull of the planets they passed by and the use of gravity assists to gain momentum. Time dilation would not have a significant impact on the speed of the spacecraft.

Furthermore, your example of a journey taking 5 seconds from point A to point B, but appearing to take only 3 seconds from Earth's perspective is not accurate. The time dilation effect would only be noticeable if the speed of the object is very close to the speed of light, which is not the case for the Pioneer spacecrafts.

Your idea of matter between galaxies appearing to move faster due to a lack of matter is also not accurate. The speed of an object is relative to the observer, and in this case, the observer would be the matter between galaxies. So, from their perspective, everything would appear to be moving at normal speeds.

In conclusion, while your thinking is creative and shows an interest in physics, it is important to have a solid understanding of the concepts before making assumptions and drawing conclusions. Time dilation is a complex concept and should be studied and understood in depth before making any connections to real-world phenomena.