Varying Speed of light?

[aman]

I try to understand all the nuances of relativity but it seems to me that if an object is moving away from you at the speed of light you could imagine that it left a trail of photons stationary along its path as it travelled. They would never reach your eyes. Is that the way it is?

Just aman

[bt redliner]

that's my theory

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

No, I don't think it's like that. If it was, you could walk along the beam and see the light from it. Unless I misunderstood.

[Erador]

because it would be too fast for our eyes to see it...think if its faster, it means its wave frequancy is smaller...correct?

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

no, if THE SOURCE is moving faster!

[ydoaPs]

speed of light changes according to what it is traveling in

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

We're talking about c, the speed of light in a vacuum.

 

Read the whole thread before you post in it.

[cheapbeersucks]

I apologized' date=' for my stupid post.

I’m new to this type of things, and is sure confusing the shit out of me.[/quote']

 

Dont be discouraged!! At least you try to make sense of it all with some humor!

[cheapbeersucks]

Okay, someone back there said that the object moving at the speed of light away from you would result in the reflection from ever reaching you, but we know the just because it hits a moving object towards you (usually a train in explainations) its not "Lightspeed plus 60mph" the same would apply for moving away. Thats why light is red or blue shifted due to the doppler affect which applies to all waves either being compressed or stretched as a result of the object they have been reflected/created by. So if its moving away you will see it mearly as it was at the point of light reflection (ie.. the past).

[apathy]

so, the theory says that as the universe has been expanding then light speed has been going through various phase changes, i like this theory because it solves a lot of the "cosmological problems" without invoking 'dark energy' and 'dark matter' and there's no fudge factor, 'cosmological constant' or 'quiescence'

 

it was ridiculously fast in the beginning, then it phase changed and slowed to a different speed, we are in one of those phases now where light travles at 300,000 m/s

 

to answer earlier posts, light travels at one speed (nowadays), period

when someone says "light travelling through a medium" they mean that photons are being absorbed and re-emitted throughout the material, atom to atom, so to speak

 

but light ONLY travels in a vacuum, and at ONE velocity

[chuman]

c is contant otherwise einstiens theory would be rubbish. c has always thought of a contant in a vacumn, i really dunno why the polls have a 46% yes it does change.?