SPACE — If we study Physics, we are certainly familiar with the speed of light. The speed of light traveling through a vacuum is exactly 299,792,458 meters per second.
Reporting from SpaceAccording to Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, nothing in the universe can move faster than light. The theory states that as matter approaches the speed of light, the mass of matter becomes infinite.
Maybe you often wonder what the speed of light actually is. The following are several questions about the speed of light that Rob Zellem, a scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, tried to explain.
Zellem is the lead scientist for the Exoplanet Watch project, a citizen science project to observe exoplanets, planets outside our solar system, with small telescopes.
Is it faster than the speed of light?
No. Light is the universal speed limit. According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, the speed of light is the fastest speed in the universe: 300,000 kilometers per second.
Is the speed of light constant?
The speed of light is a universal constant in vacuum. However, light can slow down slightly when passing through an absorbing medium, such as water at 225,000 kilometers per second or glass at 200,000 kilometers per second.
Who discovered the speed of light?
One of the first measurements of the speed of light was made by Rømer in 1676 by observing the moons of Jupiter. The speed of light was first measured with great precision in 1879 by the Michelson-Morley Experiment.
How did scientists first know the speed of light?
Rømer was able to measure the speed of light by observing the eclipse of Jupiter’s moon, Io. When Jupiter was closer to Earth, Rømer noted that Io’s eclipse occurred slightly earlier than when Jupiter was further away.
Rømer attributed this effect to the time it takes light to travel longer distances when Jupiter is further away from Earth.
2023-10-20 09:11:00
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