What is the current explanation for apparent superluminal jets?

  • Thread starter Thread starter easyrider
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Superluminal
easyrider
Messages
89
Reaction score
0
Im not going to pretend to be more educated than I am.

Now I know the usual explanation is that the jet is at a pretty significant angle in relation to the observer.

But, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superluminal_motion makes it seem the jet truly is traveling FTL.

I was just wondering what the most current accepted explanation is on apparent superluminal jets, academics wise?

And if it truly is apparently traveling faster than c, is there any explanation? I have a hard time throwing away one of the most sound principles in Physics.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
The explanation is given right there in the Wikipedia article. What part did you not understand?
 
Okay I am sort of confused. Is it saying that the jet is truly faster than light? Or is it kinda the same as, for example flicking a laser across the moon and the "point" is technically FTL but is otherwise meaningless as there is no linear superluminal motion and no information being transferred?

Sorry, and thank you for your time.
 

Thread 'I don't see how a black hole's event horizon can be crossed'

OK, so this has bugged me for a while about the equivalence principle and the black hole information paradox. If black holes "evaporate" via Hawking radiation, then they cannot exist forever. So, from my external perspective, watching the person fall in, they slow down, freeze, and redshift to "nothing," but never cross the event horizon. Does the equivalence principle say my perspective is valid? If it does, is it possible that that person really never crossed the event horizon? The...
View full post »

Thread 'Synchronizing clocks in an inertial frame if light is anisotropic'

ASSUMPTIONS 1. Two identical clocks A and B in the same inertial frame are stationary relative to each other a fixed distance L apart. Time passes at the same rate for both. 2. Both clocks are able to send/receive light signals and to write/read the send/receive times into signals. 3. The speed of light is anisotropic. METHOD 1. At time t[A1] and time t[B1], clock A sends a light signal to clock B. The clock B time is unknown to A. 2. Clock B receives the signal from A at time t[B2] and...
View full post »

Thread 'Is the variation of the metric ##\delta g_{\mu\nu}## a tensor?'

From $$0 = \delta(g^{\alpha\mu}g_{\mu\nu}) = g^{\alpha\mu} \delta g_{\mu\nu} + g_{\mu\nu} \delta g^{\alpha\mu}$$ we have $$g^{\alpha\mu} \delta g_{\mu\nu} = -g_{\mu\nu} \delta g^{\alpha\mu} \,\, . $$ Multiply both sides by ##g_{\alpha\beta}## to get $$\delta g_{\beta\nu} = -g_{\alpha\beta} g_{\mu\nu} \delta g^{\alpha\mu} \qquad(*)$$ (This is Dirac's eq. (26.9) in "GTR".) On the other hand, the variation ##\delta g^{\alpha\mu} = \bar{g}^{\alpha\mu} - g^{\alpha\mu}## should be a tensor...
View full post »

Similar threads

A What was the explanation of OPERA superluminal neutrinos?
Replies
14
Views
2K
B What value of z (redshift) equals apparent superluminal recession?
Replies
28
Views
3K
Stargazing How Can Both Jets from a Black Hole Appear to Move Faster Than Light?
Replies
3
Views
2K
Apparent superluminal velocity of galaxies
Replies
11
Views
5K
Superluminal velocities & redshift
Replies
15
Views
4K
Can Humanity Achieve Superluminal Travel in 30 Years?
Replies
16
Views
4K
Help understand FTL causality implication
Replies
27
Views
5K
B My paraphrased explanation of the Twin Paradox
Replies
24
Views
4K
Is this description of superluminal speeds correct?
Replies
7
Views
3K
B Sum up Questions for Gravitational Waves & Weighing Scales
Replies
5
Views
1K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top