Tag Archives: lightspeed

The Speed of Light In Respect to the Scale of the Universe

Posted on September 3, 2024 by Justinc

Distances in space is so great that it needs to be measured in how long it takes for light to travel to that location. Light travels around 299,792,458 m/s or about 671,000,000 mph. Compared to the speed of sound on Earth, which is about 373m/s or about 767 mph, the speed of light is more […] Continue reading →

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Posted on January 23, 2023 by berlinbe

Like other electromagnetic particles, light has a specific velocity at which it travels. Further, it is presumed to be the fastest theoretical speed of any particle. The speed of light–referred to as “c” in a vacuum–is roughly 300,000,000 m/s. Since it moves so fast, most people never observe light as a moving particle or something […] Continue reading →

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Achieving Light Speed: Curvature Propulsion

Posted on January 21, 2023 by alicebyrnes

Space curvature propulsion is a theoretical idea that has been explored through science fiction (including Cixin Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy) as method of allowing ships to travel through space at or beyond the speed of light. While this idea currently resides firmly in the realm of science fiction, the theoretical basis is rooted […] Continue reading →

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The Limitations of Space Travel

Posted on January 19, 2020 by Jack

Let’s just imagine for a moment that humanity eventually advances in technology such that light-speed travel is attainable. The speed of light, roughly 3×10^8 m/s, is the upper limit on travel speed- If light could go any faster, it would. With light-speed travel, humanity will likely attempt to colonize other planets, for a variety ofContinue reading “The Limitations of Space Travel” Continue reading →

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The Speed of Light: Can We Go Faster?

Posted on January 19, 2020 by alexsolarsystem

The speed of light in a vacuum is around 300,000,000 meters per second (for those more accustomed to freedom units, that’s 186,282 miles per second). Thanks to Albert Einstein and many other prominent scientists, we believe that only massless particles like photons are able to achieve this speed. This implies that it’s theoretically impossible forContinue reading “The Speed of Light: Can We Go Faster?” Continue reading →

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Limitations of Gravitational Slingshots in our Solar System

Posted on February 16, 2016 by chasejaeger

The use of gravity assist has been an integral part of space exploration. Gravitational slingshots have been used time and time again to send spacecraft to areas that would be impossible to get to otherwise by providing the spacecraft with increased speed. Accordingly, spacecrafts are able to get places faster and use less fuel. (Voyager […] Continue reading →

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Limitations of Gravitational Slingshots in our Solar System

Posted on February 16, 2016 by chasejaeger

The use of gravity assist has been an integral part of space exploration. Gravitational slingshots have been used time and time again to send spacecraft to areas that would be impossible to get to otherwise by providing the spacecraft with increased speed. Accordingly, spacecrafts are able to get places faster and use less fuel. (Voyager […] Continue reading →

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Making the Jump to Light Speed

Posted on January 26, 2016 by lindseynestor

Chapter 1 of Astronomy: The Solar System served as a HUGE (seriously though) reminder as to how small and insignificant we are, and how very very very infinitesimally small the corner of the universe we’ve explored actually is. I’m a big Star Wars fan, and looking at that world from the perspective of astronomy class, […] Continue reading →

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The Speed Limit of the Universe

Posted on January 25, 2016 by samihahplanet

58,536 km/h. That’s the speed of the fastest ever man-made vehicle: the New Horizons space probe. Though this may seem like an unfathomable feat to the layperson, there’s something that can travel even faster than that by five orders of magnitude. Light is the current “speed limit of the universe.” It travels at 3 x 108  m/s or 1 […] Continue reading →

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One Long Trip

Posted on January 25, 2016 by chasejaeger

When we look up at the sky during the night, it can feel comforting that instead of being surrounded by darkness, we see the bright twinkles of stars all around us. Though this might make us feel like we are not simply on a rocky planet hurtling through space far from everything else, this is not […] Continue reading →

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