Fear and loathing in observable universe
Ok, so, there are a few things that I've forgot or misunderstood through years, so I've tried to google them. Although I've found official and unofficial explanations, I cannot figure out scientific ones, and I don't trust every random blogger or web page who thinks how they figured out everything. That's why I turn to old reliable worshipers of dead dragon's carcass, a fictional, digital entity, about 20 years old.
Da question?
The theory says that the faster object move through space, time will slow down (although the object won't notice that). So let'say I mount my pink magic pony that can gallop fast as speed of light, and put on a rolex to look like a dandy. So, if I start from Earth, and travel to fictional point B (let's just call it B) that is 10 light years away, stationary people will see me arrive there after 10 years, but for me, the time has stopped (or very nearly so), and I arrived almost instantly. This doesn't make any sense. It means that even if I go to... say... point C (500 million light years away), from my perspective, I would, again, arrive almost instantly.
I'm sure I'm missing something here.
Da question?
The theory says that the faster object move through space, time will slow down (although the object won't notice that). So let'say I mount my pink magic pony that can gallop fast as speed of light, and put on a rolex to look like a dandy. So, if I start from Earth, and travel to fictional point B (let's just call it B) that is 10 light years away, stationary people will see me arrive there after 10 years, but for me, the time has stopped (or very nearly so), and I arrived almost instantly. This doesn't make any sense. It means that even if I go to... say... point C (500 million light years away), from my perspective, I would, again, arrive almost instantly.
I'm sure I'm missing something here.
I have no idea what this theory is talking about but it sounds like complete bogus.
Well general relativity is the case, but I've missed something big in it 
No, it sounds like you understood perfectly. It's not like the universe has any obligation to conform to your ideas of common sense. 
I think this should clear a few things up.
If you manage to reach the speed of light, and you travel ten light years, in your perspective, you will travel ten years, whereas outside of the area traveling, time passes by ten thousand.
Time is an illusion, it's how our brain processes events based on our perspectives. Hell, beyond the artificial system of time we have set up, time itself doesn't make any damn sense.
Time is an illusion, it's how our brain processes events based on our perspectives. Hell, beyond the artificial system of time we have set up, time itself doesn't make any damn sense.
No, I'm pretty sure that most theories agree that time is real, it's just that how we commonly assume to perceive it that it is off.
I'm no scientitian, but I remember reading a theory that I rather liked that posited that time is a result of quantum systems collapsing into entropy, where they have become so complex that in order to keep interacting, they are forced to pick states (since time doesn't apply at a quantum level). Or at least, that's what I recall, I wouldn't be surprised if I got some details wrong.
I'm no scientitian, but I remember reading a theory that I rather liked that posited that time is a result of quantum systems collapsing into entropy, where they have become so complex that in order to keep interacting, they are forced to pick states (since time doesn't apply at a quantum level). Or at least, that's what I recall, I wouldn't be surprised if I got some details wrong.
If you manage to reach the speed of light, and you travel ten light years, in your perspective, you will travel ten years, whereas outside of the area traveling, time passes by ten thousand.
Actually, at light speed travel would be instantaneous. Doesn't matter if you're travelling a distance of 1km, or a trillion km, it's instant transmission. Space as well as time contracts to zero, so you're just here one moment, and then you're there.
The most mindducky part to me is that light speed isn't actually that fast. It's meandering at ~300 000km/s for people on earth, but for the light speed traveller, it's instant. It would make more sense intuitively if light was just universally instantaneous.
I think it's incredibly cool, though, that you could actually travel to distant parts of the universe in your own lifetime, if only you could move close to the speed of light. Of course, trillions of years could pass on earth in the meanwhile.
Actually, at light speed travel would be instantaneous. Doesn't matter if you're travelling a distance of 1km, or a trillion km, it's instant transmission. Space as well as time contracts to zero, so you're just here one moment, and then you're there.
The most mindducky part to me is that light speed isn't actually that fast. It's meandering at ~300 000km/s for people on earth, but for the light speed traveller, it's instant. It would make more sense intuitively if light was just universally instantaneous.
I think it's incredibly cool, though, that you could actually travel to distant parts of the universe in your own lifetime, if only you could move close to the speed of light. Of course, trillions of years could pass on earth in the meanwhile.
Scratcher is right, and my original post was correct too. While we are at it, here is some fun stuff I found out about black holes while trying to answer my own question.
1)
Black hole consist of 4 parts. Ergosphere - ecliptical space (due to rotation of black hole) where spacetime moves at the speed of light in direction of black hole's rotation. Event horizon - a sphere shape, and point of no return. To escape from the event horizon, one must move greater than speed of light in opposite direction, which is impossible. Everything bellow event horizon can't be seen, couse... well, duh... light can't escape. Finally, inside event horizon lies 'singularity'. No one knows what it is ,except that it's created by highly compressed matter. It's represented as a dot in the sphere center (event horizon), but since time and space are hugely distorted within black hole (time in black hole passes extremely slow relative to our time), so matter (if it is still matter) position of newly sucked material is questionable, and density cannot be measured. Nor the radius of singularity, at that.
2)
Most pictures of black holes are incorrect representations. Black holes aren't black. They are invisible, sort of. If you watch the sky full of stars and there is a black hole (BH from now on) somewhere in between those stars and you, you would see circle shaped light distortion. Stars directly behind BH would seem larger, distorted, smaller, or not visible at all, depending on the angle at witch their light (electromagnetic wave - EMW) comes from. Like a huge contact lense is between you and them. It's actually possible to (figuratively) shoot a laser beam at BH, and laser beam can rotate 180 degrees and turn back to you, due to space distortion near BH if you can aim it right.
3)
Stars are really hot, because of their huge mass, and pressure, but BHs have just small temperature above absolute zero. Since even light can't escape event horizon, EMWs 'die' when they are sucked. Since heat is also transmitted via EMWs (heat is an EMW at specific wavelenght), BHs are therefore cooler than most of the universe. At least from the outside...
4)
BHs are also emitting EMWs. Hawking proved that. But they are barely observable, because EMW traveling opposite of BH (actually event horizon) start dropping in their frequency due to traveling in stretched space. This is called redshift, and occurs regularly in entire space due to its expansion, but its rapid near BHs. So if EMW was gamma ray at emission, it becomes long wave when he exits ergosphere.
personal observation
I've no idea how can emitted EMW escape event horizon. EMW's frequency has nothing to do with its speed, or how it's even emitted. Aside from that, he is moving from stretched space to less stretched space, so inversed redshift should occur, making wave with higher frequency at the end, than at emission point
5)
BHs spin. Fast. But... If 'stuff' beyond event horizon moves incredibly slowly, due to time distortion(or dilation, whatever), what is exactly spinning over there??? They also calculated that each BH depending on their mass, has their own maximum spin rate, but that's just too confusing, although interesting. I can't explain, so google it if you wanna...
1)
Black hole consist of 4 parts. Ergosphere - ecliptical space (due to rotation of black hole) where spacetime moves at the speed of light in direction of black hole's rotation. Event horizon - a sphere shape, and point of no return. To escape from the event horizon, one must move greater than speed of light in opposite direction, which is impossible. Everything bellow event horizon can't be seen, couse... well, duh... light can't escape. Finally, inside event horizon lies 'singularity'. No one knows what it is ,except that it's created by highly compressed matter. It's represented as a dot in the sphere center (event horizon), but since time and space are hugely distorted within black hole (time in black hole passes extremely slow relative to our time), so matter (if it is still matter) position of newly sucked material is questionable, and density cannot be measured. Nor the radius of singularity, at that.
2)
Most pictures of black holes are incorrect representations. Black holes aren't black. They are invisible, sort of. If you watch the sky full of stars and there is a black hole (BH from now on) somewhere in between those stars and you, you would see circle shaped light distortion. Stars directly behind BH would seem larger, distorted, smaller, or not visible at all, depending on the angle at witch their light (electromagnetic wave - EMW) comes from. Like a huge contact lense is between you and them. It's actually possible to (figuratively) shoot a laser beam at BH, and laser beam can rotate 180 degrees and turn back to you, due to space distortion near BH if you can aim it right.
3)
Stars are really hot, because of their huge mass, and pressure, but BHs have just small temperature above absolute zero. Since even light can't escape event horizon, EMWs 'die' when they are sucked. Since heat is also transmitted via EMWs (heat is an EMW at specific wavelenght), BHs are therefore cooler than most of the universe. At least from the outside...
4)
BHs are also emitting EMWs. Hawking proved that. But they are barely observable, because EMW traveling opposite of BH (actually event horizon) start dropping in their frequency due to traveling in stretched space. This is called redshift, and occurs regularly in entire space due to its expansion, but its rapid near BHs. So if EMW was gamma ray at emission, it becomes long wave when he exits ergosphere.
personal observation
I've no idea how can emitted EMW escape event horizon. EMW's frequency has nothing to do with its speed, or how it's even emitted. Aside from that, he is moving from stretched space to less stretched space, so inversed redshift should occur, making wave with higher frequency at the end, than at emission point
5)
BHs spin. Fast. But... If 'stuff' beyond event horizon moves incredibly slowly, due to time distortion(or dilation, whatever), what is exactly spinning over there??? They also calculated that each BH depending on their mass, has their own maximum spin rate, but that's just too confusing, although interesting. I can't explain, so google it if you wanna...
Alright, let me clarify. If you reach light speed and travel the distance of ten light years, the ten year will pass from your perspective.
No. When you reach the speed of light, time SLOWS down, and distance SHRINKS, so your trip ends (almost) instantly. Stationary person who is watching your trippin' will see your trip as 10 years long.
Edit:
To clarify it to you, imagine you're super sexy space agent KrisKnox, and you're coming back home riding your awesome pink intergalactic spaceship named 'Lyudmila' back home to earth, where your beloved...ugh I'm lazy to crap out cliches.
Imagine you're traveling with speed of light from Sun to Earth, where your friends wait you for a beer. So you tell them over the phone "I'll be there in just a sec". From your perspective, you will arrive in just a second, but for them, minutes have past.
Light comes from Sun to Earth in 8 minutes, from OUR perspective. From PHOTON's perspective, he traveled just a second.
Some particles can travel long distances (say 10 light years) although their existence is possible only for a fragment of a second (if stationary). BUT, if they travel with light speed, we will see that they exist for 10 years (although that shouldn't be the case), but their time is dilated (slowed down) so from our perspective, they can live for 10 years.
I'm not really good at explaining things
Edit:
To clarify it to you, imagine you're super sexy space agent KrisKnox, and you're coming back home riding your awesome pink intergalactic spaceship named 'Lyudmila' back home to earth, where your beloved...ugh I'm lazy to crap out cliches.
Imagine you're traveling with speed of light from Sun to Earth, where your friends wait you for a beer. So you tell them over the phone "I'll be there in just a sec". From your perspective, you will arrive in just a second, but for them, minutes have past.
Light comes from Sun to Earth in 8 minutes, from OUR perspective. From PHOTON's perspective, he traveled just a second.
Some particles can travel long distances (say 10 light years) although their existence is possible only for a fragment of a second (if stationary). BUT, if they travel with light speed, we will see that they exist for 10 years (although that shouldn't be the case), but their time is dilated (slowed down) so from our perspective, they can live for 10 years.
I'm not really good at explaining things
Ooh, one more thing. What we call 'speed of light' can have two meanings. There is a cosmic rule that certain speed cannot be reached (they call that speed of light), but because time will stop completely at that pointc actual speed of photon (or EMW, or 'actual speed of light') is slightly less than that constant.
Basically, EMW still needs some time to reach somewhere from his perspective. So if you travel to a distant galaxy with speed of light few billion light years away, it still can take you few million years to reach it. And then you realize that that galaxy is not there any more, or it is half dead, because light from that galaxy that we see is very old (in our perspective).
Someone mentioned space bending travel option. That is utterly impossible. Small space bendings, maybe, but that's not practical enough. Large space bendings... well, that's a black hole, so you know how it will end, and even they can't bend space that way. Space is an elastic piece of duck. The only space bending that would be useful is a wormhole, but that doesn't exist (not even theoretically possible), and no material would survive it.
Basically, EMW still needs some time to reach somewhere from his perspective. So if you travel to a distant galaxy with speed of light few billion light years away, it still can take you few million years to reach it. And then you realize that that galaxy is not there any more, or it is half dead, because light from that galaxy that we see is very old (in our perspective).
Someone mentioned space bending travel option. That is utterly impossible. Small space bendings, maybe, but that's not practical enough. Large space bendings... well, that's a black hole, so you know how it will end, and even they can't bend space that way. Space is an elastic piece of duck. The only space bending that would be useful is a wormhole, but that doesn't exist (not even theoretically possible), and no material would survive it.
