Ima Cat
Active Member
- Apr 6, 2017
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Lets say you're speeding toward Proxima Centauri, 4 light years from Earth, at .9C, where C = the speed of light. Einsteins time dilation formula shows that time would pass about only about 1/3rd as fast for you as for an Earthbound observer. So for each of your years, Earthlings age about 3 years.
The 4 light years to Proxima would require 4/.9 or about 4.4 years of travel time at your speed, as viewed from Earth. But in your spaceship, the 4.4 earth-years would pass in 4.4/3 = about 1.5 years.
Does this mean that you aboard the spaceship would seem to travel about 2.7 times the speed of light, traversing 4 light years in only about 1.5 years?
The 4 light years to Proxima would require 4/.9 or about 4.4 years of travel time at your speed, as viewed from Earth. But in your spaceship, the 4.4 earth-years would pass in 4.4/3 = about 1.5 years.
Does this mean that you aboard the spaceship would seem to travel about 2.7 times the speed of light, traversing 4 light years in only about 1.5 years?