The Cosmic Speed Limit (Speed of Light)

The Speed of Light

At a whopping 300,000 kilometers per second, light travels (light can travel up to 300,000 kilometers per second and this is if it is in a vacuum), even though it may seem like the speed of light itself doesn't reveal anything about the cosmos your wrong. Only massless particles can reach such speed, as the mass of a particle increases its maximum speed decreases meaning massless particles such as photons ( particles that makeup light ) can reach maximum speed. It is impossible to accelerate any mass object to light speed since doing so would need unlimited energy, which is unachievable with our existing understanding and technology. Also, our vision depends on light, meaning our eyes are light detectors of some sort. This also means that if we see an object that is 8 light minutes ( light time, in general, is how long it would take for light to travel from the object to the viewer) away such as our sun we are seeing it 8 minutes ago, if the sun were to disappear we wouldn't notice for 8 minutes.

Why the cosmic speed limit limits our capabilities?

 ​The limit is not a positive when it comes to space voyages and communication. First it is nearly impossible according to modern physics to reach light speed travel meaning traveling to other stars let alone other galaxies would take a very very long time, however this may be seen as an advancement to the amount of options we have when it comes to interstellar travel and has led to the development of alternate ways of fast travel such as the Alcubierre Warp Drive (topic for another blog). But space travel isn't the only way the speed limit affects our capabilities, it also limits the speed of the transfer of information. We use waves and different types of signals to communicate in general, and they are all limited by speed meaning if we were to go on a interstellar voyage to Proxima Centauri ( nearest star to our solar system ) and get there successfully, it would take 4 years for the information from Earth to get there.  This limit on communications is definitely another aspect to keep in mind when it comes to future travels.

Cool image of C, the letter for the speed of light

Speed of light and how long it takes to travel to our nearest star as well as the distance light travels in a light year

Final Thoughts

Even though we currently cannot defy it, I believe we will find a way to go around the cosmic speed limit and find a way to travel beyond our solar system. There have been theorists who have suggested the existence of particles that surpass the cosmic speed limit such as the tachyon. Hopefully, we will see the day when interstellar travel exists, hope everyone has a great day.