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Old 21-May-2003, 04:27 PM
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Default Re: Still COnfused sorry

Quote:
Originally Posted by skywatcher
I need help
No material object can travel at the speed of light, which is 186,000 miles per second in vacuum - all matter travels slower than light. For most objects, such as stars and planets, much, much slower. (Only some elementary particles approach light speed)

If that star were 7 light years away and moving straight at us at the speed of light, it would take 7 years to get here. If 10 light years away - it would take 10 years. This is how a light year is defined as a measuire of distance.

But - a more reasonable velocity for another star outside the Solar System might be, say, 10 miles per second relative to us. That is 1/18,600 of the speed of light. For the star 10 light years away, this means it would take 18,600 x 10 - i.e. 186,000 years to get here.

Hope this helps. Otherwise - what concept are you having problems with?
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