3 ms·
Does this imply that the 1806-20 event occurred ~50,000 years ago and only just reached us ten years ago? "In December 2004, the magnetar SGR 1806-20 underwent
by jameswilsterman 12y ago
Does this imply that the 1806-20 event occurred ~50,000 years ago and only just reached us ten years ago?
"In December 2004, the magnetar SGR 1806-20 underwent such a starquake." <- Makes it sound like the effect on Earth was instantaneous but I imagine that is impossible.
- saintgimp 12y agoRelativity kind of messes with our notions of time. Any event that happens outside of our lightcone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_cone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_cone) cannot have any casual effect on us, even theoretically, until it enters our lightcone. Before then, the event literally doesn't exist from our point of view. Because of this, it's reasonable and valid to take the position that distant events "happen" when we're first able to see them happen. It's not the only perspective you could have, of course, but it can be a useful one and astronomical events are often discussed this way.
- Houshalter 12y agoThat's not true if faster than light travel is possible (e.g. wormholes, warpdrives, any form of time travel, etc.) And even so, it doesn't make a lot of sense to redefine time that way. It would be like a pre-electricity civilization declaring that things outside their mail-cone (how fast mail can travel) haven't actually happened yet.