Paradoxes

[Greg Ross]

Originally Posted by jdiwnab

Remember, according to special relativity, that no matter how fast you go, the speed of light is still c relative to you, same c as observed from our relatively slow point of observation on Earth. So you wouldn't out running the light reflected from Earth, they would appear anyway.

Don't forget about the Doppler effect. As you approach 20% of the speed of light, the blue end of the spectrum will be shifted to appear green; green to orange, orange to red, and red will become invisible, being now infrared. By about 40% of C, only the blue light will still be visible, and it will now appear red. At about 99.996% of C, the formerly visible light will only be able to be detected as microwaves!

But fear not! All will not be blackness. As the formerly visible light fades from view, ultraviolet, x-rays, and eventually gamma rays will come into view as visible light. Now that would be cool: being able to see x-rays with the naked eye just like Superman!