nearest star much closer ?

What if the speed of light was much greater beyond the solar
system ?
And so distance becomes less. So the base of the triangle used to
measure
the distance to the nearest star, measures much less in this outside
space.
The etheric pressure is much less outside the solar system and that is
why
the speed of light is greater.
Mo

"Mo" wrote in message
ups.com...
What if the speed of light was much greater beyond the solar system
?

It would be apparent from V838 Mon.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050204.html

Also the light from distant supernovae would arrive
long before the neutrinos:

http://hep.bu.edu/~superk/gc.html

And so distance becomes less. So the base of the triangle used to measure
the distance to the nearest star, measures much less in this outside
space.

The baseline used for parallax measurements is the
width of the Earth's orbit so is accurately known.
Changing the speed beyond the solar system would not
alter the subtended angle so our distances would
remain accurate.

http://www.rssd.esa.int/Hipparcos/

Happy New Year
George

George Dishman wrote:
"Mo" wrote in message
ups.com...
What if the speed of light was much greater beyond the solar system
?

It would be apparent from V838 Mon.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050204.html

Also the light from distant supernovae would arrive
long before the neutrinos:

http://hep.bu.edu/~superk/gc.html

Wouldn't even the neutrinos speed up proportionately in the lower
pressure regions and then slow down again as it entered the Solar
system, just like the light?

Yousuf Khan

"Yousuf Khan" wrote in message
...
George Dishman wrote:
"Mo" wrote in message
ups.com...
What if the speed of light was much greater beyond the solar
system ?

It would be apparent from V838 Mon.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050204.html

Also the light from distant supernovae would arrive
long before the neutrinos:

http://hep.bu.edu/~superk/gc.html

Wouldn't even the neutrinos speed up proportionately in the lower pressure
regions and then slow down again as it entered the Solar system, just like
the light?

It would depend on what you imagine the characteristics
of your aether to be, but I doubt you could make it work.
If your aether exerted any force on particles, there
should be an observable drag that would be evident in
many ways. Put it another way, when light passes from one
gas into another, the change in refractive index changes
its speed, but a massive particle would continue at the
same speed.

George

Yousuf Khan wrote:

Wouldn't even the neutrinos speed up proportionately in the lower
pressure regions and then slow down again as it entered the Solar
system, just like the light?

Yousuf Khan

George wrote:
The baseline used for parallax measurements is the
width of the Earth's orbit so is accurately known.
Changing the speed beyond the solar system would not
alter the subtended angle so our distances would
remain accurate.
A distance in the solar system would be much further
outside the solar system. Atoms would be much larger.
You are not thinking Einstein.
Mo

Mo wrote:

Yousuf Khan wrote:

Wouldn't even the neutrinos speed up proportionately in the lower
pressure regions and then slow down again as it entered the Solar
system, just like the light?

Yousuf Khan

George wrote:

Why did you cut Yousuf's question and paste it in front
of my answer to your question? This is what you actually
asked:

What if the speed of light was much greater beyond the solar system ?
And so distance becomes less. So the base of the triangle used to measure
the distance to the nearest star, measures much less in this outside space.

To which I replied:

The baseline used for parallax measurements is the
width of the Earth's orbit so is accurately known.
Changing the speed beyond the solar system would not
alter the subtended angle so our distances would
remain accurate.

A distance in the solar system would be much further
outside the solar system. Atoms would be much larger.
You are not thinking Einstein.

It seems to be you who is confused, you asked what would
happen if the speed were greater _beyond_ the solar system.
The Earth's orbit is _within_ the solar system so unchanged.

Light could cross interstellar distances in less time, but it
would still travel in straight lines so parallax measurements
of distance, such as those made by the Hipparcos mission
would still be valid since our baseline length is correct.

George

"Mo" wrote:

What if the speed of light was much greater beyond the
solar
system ?

The difference would be well known. There are objects which emit
a directed beam of radiation at precise intervals. If you observe
some of them directly overhead at midnight, the time a pulse will
arrive directly overhead at noon six months later is predictable.
If light slows down when it hits whatever you think of as the
solar system (a spherical region, or what?), the pulse will be
slightly late after crossing another two A.U.

Besides that, the radiation would be screwed up by refraction if
the difference in speed comes from encountering some medium.
Maybe the medium would act as a prism, so we'd get a ready-made
spectrum from a distant object.

And so distance becomes less. So the base of the triangle used
to measure
the distance to the nearest star, measures much less in this
outside space.

That doesn't work.

The etheric pressure is much less outside the solar system and
that is why
the speed of light is greater.

Damn! "Etheric pressure" is cool. Light hits the higher density
"etheric pressure zone" and slows down...we should have a
constant display of Cerenkov radiation.

Don't take my word for it. Get some books or something.

....

A distance in the solar system would be much further
outside the solar system. Atoms would be much larger.
You are not thinking Einstein.

George Dishman wrote:
It seems to be you who is confused, you asked what would
happen if the speed were greater _beyond_ the solar system.
The Earth's orbit is _within_ the solar system so unchanged.
....
Light could cross interstellar distances in less time, but it
would still travel in straight lines so parallax measurements
of distance, such as those made by the Hipparcos mission
would still be valid since our baseline length is correct.

George
The distance to the nearest star falls predominately in the
space outside the Solar System, so this distance needs to be
measured with measuring sticks from this outside space. So
the baseline has to measured with these outside sticks also.
Thus the baseline we use would be incorrect.
Mo

John Griffin wrote:
"Mo" wrote:

What if the speed of light was much greater beyond the
solar
system ?

The difference would be well known. There are objects which emit
a directed beam of radiation at precise intervals. If you observe
some of them directly overhead at midnight, the time a pulse will
arrive directly overhead at noon six months later is predictable.
If light slows down when it hits whatever you think of as the
solar system (a spherical region, or what?), the pulse will be
slightly late after crossing another two A.U.

The pulse will travel at the speed of light in the 2 A.U. What
speed
it had before that would not matter.

Besides that, the radiation would be screwed up by refraction if
the difference in speed comes from encountering some medium.
Maybe the medium would act as a prism, so we'd get a ready-made
spectrum from a distant object.

Light gets refracted around the Sun. What if the etheric pressure
was greater near the Sun and the light was actually refracted ? And
light could be similarly refracted when passing galaxies.

The etheric pressure is much less outside the solar system and
that is why
the speed of light is greater.

Damn! "Etheric pressure" is cool. Light hits the higher density
"etheric pressure zone" and slows down...we should have a
constant display of Cerenkov radiation.

Don't take my word for it. Get some books or something.

The light does not slow down. It the measuring sticks that
change. So no radiation.
Mo

Mo wrote:

...

A distance in the solar system would be much further
outside the solar system. Atoms would be much larger.
You are not thinking Einstein.

George Dishman wrote:
It seems to be you who is confused, you asked what would
happen if the speed were greater _beyond_ the solar system.
The Earth's orbit is _within_ the solar system so unchanged.
...
Light could cross interstellar distances in less time, but it
would still travel in straight lines so parallax measurements
of distance, such as those made by the Hipparcos mission
would still be valid since our baseline length is correct.

The distance to the nearest star falls predominately in the
space outside the Solar System, so this distance needs to be
measured with measuring sticks from this outside space.
the baseline has to measured with these outside sticks also.

The sticks are defined as being 1 metre long so should
be the same length regardless of the speed of light. If
the speed of light varies, for example due to the refractive
index of a material, the length of the metre is unaffected
because the definition is based on the speed in a perfect
vacuum.

Thus the baseline we use would be incorrect.

The baseline is measured using light _inside_ the solar
system so is correct. Distances outside are measured
using a technique called parallax whch uses only the
baseline length and a measured angle so still gives the
correct answer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallax

George