3 ms·
The thing is 9 light hours out. It's 9 light hours back. What's the photon doing in the meantime? A little R&R on the beaches of Neptune, taking in the sights o
by groby_b 8y ago
The thing is 9 light hours out. It's 9 light hours back. What's the photon doing in the meantime? A little R&R on the beaches of Neptune, taking in the sights of floating diamonds?
- caspper69 8y agoIt's travelling at the speed of light. From its reference frame, the trip is instantaneous.
- groby_b 8y agoGiven that OP - our observer - is presumably on earth, it's a different reference frame. We'll still have to account for the difference of "possibly weeks" and and 18 hours. And it's a really sorry state of affairs for photons that their vacations pass instantaneously. (IOW: I was poking fun at the OPs statements of the photon travelling "possibly weeks", not making a statement of fact. I thought the "beaches of Neptune" bit gave it away, but I guess not)
- jdmichal 8y agoThat may or may not be accurate. The limit of time dilation function as velocity approaches speed of light is zero, but the function itself is discontinuous. It hits a division-by-zero.