Talks on TRAPPIST-1

[ChaIbaud]

Guluere isn't making much sense... maybe it's just me. Seems to be rambling and going off on tangents and possibly even secants ( )

[Grimrock Litless]

Guluere isn't making much sense... maybe it's just me. Seems to be rambling and going off on tangents and possibly even secants ( )

What are you talking about?
*mumble to self about how chal do not know anything, like john snow.*

[Haron]

Yes, but Trappist - 1 is only 39 lightyears away, which means we are only seeing things 39 years ago. In the scale of the universe, nothing much would have changed.

that depends really. if no outside forces get involved, then yes. but lets say 8 years ago it got hit by a huge meteor, that would make quite the change. or if there are lifeforms on it already, and they end up nuking themselves into oblivion 3 years ago. but if its uninhabited and no foreign objects(meteors, supernovas, aliens) get involved then it would remain unchanged for the most part. but it doesn't change the fact that we are seeing it 39 years ago. but in 39 years we will know for sure how it looks today.
granted until we get faster then light space travel. or at the very least fast as light space travel(which would be a 39 year trip) not much we can do with knowledge of other planets that far away.

The only plausible way for an object to "reach" "light speed" or faster is via wormholes and even then the object isn't actually reaching those speeds.

Well, the nice thing is, if we just get very CLOSE to light speed, we get help from the special theory of relativity. While the trip may seem to take a long time for an observer on earth, the trip will actually take a shorter time for the traveller himself. So it is possible to travel long distances in a shorter time than one might think. Shorter for the traveller, that is, not for an observer on earth. Time is not the same for a person on earth and a person travelling at near light speed compared to earth.

[Grimrock Litless]

Well, the nice thing is, if we just get very CLOSE to light speed, we get help from the special theory of relativity. While the trip may seem to take a long time for an observer on earth, the trip will actually take a shorter time for the traveller himself. So it is possible to travel long distances in a shorter time than one might think. Shorter for the traveller, that is, not for an observer on earth. Time is not the same for a person on earth and a person travelling at near light speed compared to earth.

Yep. But there need to be a automatic system to stop when it gets there, or not, it smash or travel in space forever. And ever.

Or maybe we could open a wormhole, you know how they say the space is fabric like, if you can crate a temporary hole, you can travel there even faster. Only thing that can create a hole in fabric of space is a black hole.

The force of gravity can be so large that it can pull you faster than the speed of light, hence, no light can run from a black hole.

Gravity so large can also kill you, so good luck with that.

[Haron]

Well, the nice thing is, if we just get very CLOSE to light speed, we get help from the special theory of relativity. While the trip may seem to take a long time for an observer on earth, the trip will actually take a shorter time for the traveller himself. So it is possible to travel long distances in a shorter time than one might think. Shorter for the traveller, that is, not for an observer on earth. Time is not the same for a person on earth and a person travelling at near light speed compared to earth.

Yep. But there need to be a automatic system to stop when it gets there, or not, it smash or travel in space forever. And ever.

Not really. What is needed, is continous accelleration the first half of the time, and continous braking the second half of the time. Here is a simple calculator: http://nathangeffen.webfactional.com/sp ... travel.php

I have not checked that it is actually correct, so I do not wouch for the results. It gives you an idea of the difference in percieved time for an observer and a traveller, though. Enter 100 light years distance, 9.8 m/s accelaration, and the calculator gives a travel time of 102 years as seen from an observer, and about 9 years as perceived by the traveller. The theory of relativity is really fascinating.

[Haron]

The force of gravity can be so large that it can pull you faster than the speed of light, hence, no light can run from a black hole.

Wrong. The gravity of a black hole can NOT pull anything to move it faster than the speed of light. However, light is affected by gravity. In a black hole, the gravity is simply so strong that light within the Schwarzschild radius can not escape. Nothing can. This is related to the GENERAL theory of relativity, however, which is FAR more complex than the special theory of relativity.

[Grimrock Litless]

The force of gravity can be so large that it can pull you faster than the speed of light, hence, no light can run from a black hole.

Wrong. The gravity of a black hole can NOT pull anything to move it faster than the speed of light. However, light is affected by gravity. In a black hole, the gravity is simply so strong that light within the Schwarzschild radius can not escape. Nothing can. This is related to the GENERAL theory of relativity, however, which is FAR more complex than the special theory of relativity.

Ah I see, so the light would just go in a endless orbit?

[Haron]

Like I said, the general theory of relativity is really complex. I'm afraid I only have a simplistic understanding of it myself. However, you can see it as mass altering space. Light will always move in a straight line, but since mass makes "dents" in space, it changes what is a straight line. And while mass ordinarily just makes "dents", if it becomes as massive as in a black hole, one can think of it as making a "hole" in space instead.

This is a very simplistic explaination, of course.

[Most Lee Harmless]

Daniks Theory of Relativity : Conversation with a dull, boring relative will always seem to last ten times as long as conversation with an interesting relative, though to the outside observer both conversations last the same period of time.
This Theory can be applied to other circumstances : for example, a fortnights holiday spent with good company will pass in approximately 37 hours : with dull company, it can last up to 8 years.

From this we can deduce that TRAPPIST-1 is not really 39 light years away, it just that the light has a very boring Uncle sitting next to it on the journey explaining the difference between gladiolia variants and the importance of regular mulching.

Thus, to reduce the time spent travelling to it, scientist should evaluate the possibility of employing extremely attractive pole-dancers who are expert in time manipulation : my half-hour private sessions never seem to last more than 3 minutes......