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Looking behind, the landscape turns to black as the light can't catch up to the boat. I didn't think about that effect, but it would create a huge blindspot for

Looking behind, the landscape turns to black as the light can't catch up to the boat. I didn't think about that effect, but it would create a huge blindspot for a spacecraft. So it wouldn't be much of a dog fight at a fraction of light speed, just get behind the enemy ship and follow them until they slow down enough you can shoot.

lisper 8y ago
> Looking behind, the landscape turns to black as the light can't catch up to the boat. That's not the reason the rear view turns black. Light always travels at the speed of light relative to you. The reason the rear view turns black is that the light is red-shifted into the infrared, which human eyes can't see.
mbbutler 8y ago
I don't think the rear is black because light can't catch up. The craft is moving slower than the speed of light at that point. Is it possible that the rear light has been red shifted so much that it is no longer within the visible spectrum?
deleted 8y ago
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garmaine 8y ago
Light behind is red-shifted. It would not be black, that is an error in this video, but rather you would begin to see UV and higher wavelengths that are now shifted into visible. And a spacecraft would presumably have multi-spectral cameras that can see in more than just the visible anyway.
- jacquesm 8y ago
  And you'd assume that a species that has figured out how to travel at those speeds is able to show a display in 'false color' showing it as it should have been rather than the redshifted image. It's a pretty trivial correction if you have the sensor capability.
- garmaine 8y ago
  EDIT: Also the blue shift in the front is totally not what you would see either. That's assuming no EM radiation exists outside of the visible. What you'd actually see is infra-red becoming actually-red as lower energy wavelengths are blue-shifted into the visible.
im3w1l 8y ago
If you are chasing them at the same speed as they are you will be visible just like normal. It's only stationary things that go black.

lisper 8y ago

> Looking behind, the landscape turns to black as the light can't catch up to the boat. That's not the reason the rear view turns black. Light always travels at the speed of light relative to you. The reason the rear view turns black is that the light is red-shifted into the infrared, which human eyes can't see.

mbbutler 8y ago

I don't think the rear is black because light can't catch up. The craft is moving slower than the speed of light at that point. Is it possible that the rear light has been red shifted so much that it is no longer within the visible spectrum?

deleted 8y ago

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garmaine 8y ago

Light behind is red-shifted. It would not be black, that is an error in this video, but rather you would begin to see UV and higher wavelengths that are now shifted into visible. And a spacecraft would presumably have multi-spectral cameras that can see in more than just the visible anyway.

jacquesm 8y ago
And you'd assume that a species that has figured out how to travel at those speeds is able to show a display in 'false color' showing it as it should have been rather than the redshifted image. It's a pretty trivial correction if you have the sensor capability.
garmaine 8y ago
EDIT: Also the blue shift in the front is totally not what you would see either. That's assuming no EM radiation exists outside of the visible. What you'd actually see is infra-red becoming actually-red as lower energy wavelengths are blue-shifted into the visible.

im3w1l 8y ago

If you are chasing them at the same speed as they are you will be visible just like normal. It's only stationary things that go black.