Re: One Fast Meteor

Steven wrote:

>
> Although the meteor never moved faster then the speed of light, the
> relativistic Doppler effect would make it seem to have covered 10 light
> years in a mere 6 months. The velocity is almost 20c from the
> perspective of the earth.
>
> Is that possible? Am I overlooking something?

Epstein gives a similar example in his book Relativity Visualized,
showing that you can sometimes "see" things move faster than the speed
of light. As has been pointed out, relativity is concerned with what is
left after you account for the transmission time of light. Thus, if we
use a powerful telescope and "see" something happen on a star that is 3
light years away, we know that what we are seeing actually happened 3
years ago.

.