- #1
russdot
- 16
- 0
If one was in a spaceship at rest in frame K and sees an evenly-distributed number of stars around them, what would the distribution of stars look like if you were traveling at relativistic speeds (frame K')?
I'm conflicted because I've seen animations online that seem to illustrate the stars 'bunching up' in front of you (in the direction of motion), but I would think that the starfield would become denser in a ring around the ship and less dense directly in front of you (the direction of motion) and less dense behind you due to length contraction. Below is a simple physical argument:
if the @ symbol is the spaceship, and the *'s are stars just to the left & right of the direction of motion:
................*
@ -->
................*
As velocity increases, length contraction increases in the direction of travel and the angle between the two stars becomes greater for the observer.
...*
@ ---------------------->
...*
So I am not quite sure what actually happens?
I'm conflicted because I've seen animations online that seem to illustrate the stars 'bunching up' in front of you (in the direction of motion), but I would think that the starfield would become denser in a ring around the ship and less dense directly in front of you (the direction of motion) and less dense behind you due to length contraction. Below is a simple physical argument:
if the @ symbol is the spaceship, and the *'s are stars just to the left & right of the direction of motion:
................*
@ -->
................*
As velocity increases, length contraction increases in the direction of travel and the angle between the two stars becomes greater for the observer.
...*
@ ---------------------->
...*
So I am not quite sure what actually happens?