Hi all, I didn’t know how to formulate the question in a non stupid way so I’ll explain.
If the light we see from stars in the sky are actually “the past” as they’ve left their source light years ago, from another point in the universe another planet sees our Sun’s light the same way, correct?
If that’s the case, if there was an “universal year” or an “Universe’s current year”, would all the stars and planets be living in the same year?
Maybe I am 5, I feel 5 right now.
Thanks 🙂
In: 466
Visualize a graph with two axes. One axis shoots upwards, representing speed (or gravity, since they can have equivalent effects). The other axis stretches to the right, representing time.
This graph illustrates your personal perception of time. No matter what, you’ll always feel one second passing as one second. But to an outside observer, your position on this graph dictates how they perceive your passage of time.
Consider this: you’re always moving at the speed of light. But this movement is shared between relative motion (or gravitational effect) and the passage of time.
Imagine you could travel at the exact speed of light (remember, this is just theoretical because mass can’t achieve this speed). All your “movement” is on the speed axis, and to an observer, you’d appear frozen in time, even though they couldn’t technically see you due to your swift motion.
Similarly, near black holes, if you approached one, an observer would see your movement slow until you appeared to freeze at the event horizon. Even though you’ve already crossed inside, the observer would witness your seemingly stationary image gradually redshifting to black.
Conversely, if you could remain entirely motionless, all your “movement” would be dedicated to the time axis. In this state, an observer would see you engaging in activities, like knitting or whatever, at an accelerated pace, but you wouldn’t be moving in space.
There are a few key things to remember:
1. In reality, mass cannot achieve the speed of light; this example was just for illustrative purposes.
2. Absolute stillness in space is impossible. There’s no fixed point to gauge movement against. Everything is in constant motion, everywhere. Hence, it’s impossible to discern if you’re hurtling through space or if space is moving around you. This concept is at the heart of “Relativity”—everything is observed relative to something else. If you’re moving at a constant speed, it feels just like being still.
For most practical purposes, we’re not venturing high up the speed axis; our primary experience is with the passage of time. So, visualize yourself positioned low and to the right on our graph. A GPS satellite, on the other hand, would be a smidge higher and to the left. While you could see it zoom past, an astronaut aboard would experience time just a tiny bit slower than you, though this difference is so minuscule, it’s almost imperceptible.
Latest Answers