What Would We See When Traveling to a Star at Light Speed?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the implications of traveling to a star located 10 light years away at or near the speed of light. Participants explore the effects of relativistic speeds on the perception of time and aging of the star as viewed from a spacecraft.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant notes that observing a star 10 light years away means seeing it as it was 10 years ago due to the time light takes to reach us.
  • Another participant suggests rephrasing the question to consider traveling just under the speed of light, explaining that relativistic effects would alter the perception of time during the journey.
  • It is proposed that traveling at 0.99c would allow a traveler to experience only about 1.4 years of travel time while witnessing approximately 11.4 years of aging of the star.
  • Several participants share links to a game from MIT that illustrates the effects of moving close to the speed of light, with some expressing issues accessing the links.
  • One participant confirms that the game link works for them and offers an alternative link for others experiencing difficulties.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the relativistic effects of traveling close to the speed of light, but there is no consensus on the feasibility of such travel or the implications of observing time dilation.

Contextual Notes

Some assumptions about the nature of light speed travel and the effects of relativity remain unaddressed, and the discussion does not resolve the technical complexities involved in these scenarios.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to those curious about the effects of relativistic travel on time perception and aging, as well as individuals exploring conceptual physics and relativity.

NoamRiahi
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if we look on a star that it something like 10 light years from us with a telescope we see the star like he look before 10 years because the time the light take to come to us, so my question is what happen if we go to this star in the light speed or more, we will see all the 10 years in high speed?
For example a star who creat before 10 years, we will see all the 10 year in fast speed?
im new in the physics area and i have many theoric question like that
and sorry for my english, this not my major lang ☺
 
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Since it is impossible to travel at or above the speed of light, let's rephrase your question to use "just under the speed of light". Since it takes light 10 years to get here, then looked at classically it would then take you 10+ years to get to the distant star and during that time it would of course age another 10 years. SO ... you would see 20 years of aging in your 10 years of travel.

BUT ... that fails to take into account relativistic effects. If you were able to magically travel at .99c (and at the current level of our technology that would be magic indeed), the trip would actually only take you about 1.4 years. So you would see about 11.4 years of aging in 1.4 years and yes, that is a "fast-forward" on how the aging of the star would look to you.
 
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Nice, of course i know its inpossible, but i only went to know if my brain understand it
thank you for your help
 
Bandersnatch said:
Check out this game from MIT:
http://gamelab.mit.edu/games/a-slower-speed-of-light/
It illustrates the effects of moving close to the speed of light.
wow the video look good, but unlucky the 2 link doesn't work,this start to download by in the end this stop
 
NoamRiahi said:
wow the video look good, but unlucky the 2 link doesn't work,this start to download by in the end this stop
Works for me. Might be an issue with your internet connection.
Here, I've re-uploaded it to a different address(the windows 2012 version):
http://www.filedropper.com/aslowerspeedoflight
If it doesn't work either, try again later.
 
Bandersnatch said:
Works for me. Might be an issue with your internet connection.
Here, I've re-uploaded it to a different address(the windows 2012 version):
http://www.filedropper.com/aslowerspeedoflight
If it doesn't work either, try again later.
i try with my pc and its work, thanks man its really nice
 

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