Starbow
In writing the prequel to Falling Up, I'm researching space travel, and a scientific phenomenon called a Starbow. It's been used in various science fiction novels. I came across a 2018 article about this, saying 'we'd love if it were true, but it's not'.
https://oikofuge.com/the-myth-of-the-...
Well, I'm not giving up on it quite yet. Here is my reply to the article:
Thank you for your well-researched article. I'd like to add a little more to this discussion, and I look forward to well reasoned replies.
Stars are broadband emitters, in frequencies well beyond visible light in both directions. However, typically, they emit strongest within the visible light spectrum. The Planck curve depicts this as a bell shape, an average of all stars. The emission strength drops off fairly rapidly in higher frequencies, but remains fairly strong in lower frequencies.
The faster a craft moves, the more the perceived frequencies would be adjusted. Star emissions would remain within the visible range on a fast craft, but the intensity would change.
Moving forward would increase the perceived frequency of the star emissions while decreasing the perceived frequency behind. The classic example of a siren on a fast-moving vehicle as it goes by demonstrates this. Said another way, lower frequencies below light from stars in front would be shifted up into visible light, while higher frequencies above visible light would be shifted down behind.
My conclusion is stars behind would quickly fade to black as the speed of the craft increased, while stars in front would reduce in intensity slowly.
I write science fiction that flips physics on its head. I'm currently writing a story about faster than light travel. Impossible, you say? Well, what about if there was a way to almost eliminate mass? It's the premise of my novel. E=MC2 presumes some relatively large values of mass. Inertia is a property of mass. I'm calling the novel Zero-I.
Now, to bring this more directly to your topic of the Starbow. What happens to stars seen beside the fast moving craft? They would be perceived as rapidly moving streaks, as they go from approaching to retreating. Doesn't it seem like there is the possibility of a starbow there?
https://oikofuge.com/the-myth-of-the-...
Well, I'm not giving up on it quite yet. Here is my reply to the article:
Thank you for your well-researched article. I'd like to add a little more to this discussion, and I look forward to well reasoned replies.
Stars are broadband emitters, in frequencies well beyond visible light in both directions. However, typically, they emit strongest within the visible light spectrum. The Planck curve depicts this as a bell shape, an average of all stars. The emission strength drops off fairly rapidly in higher frequencies, but remains fairly strong in lower frequencies.
The faster a craft moves, the more the perceived frequencies would be adjusted. Star emissions would remain within the visible range on a fast craft, but the intensity would change.
Moving forward would increase the perceived frequency of the star emissions while decreasing the perceived frequency behind. The classic example of a siren on a fast-moving vehicle as it goes by demonstrates this. Said another way, lower frequencies below light from stars in front would be shifted up into visible light, while higher frequencies above visible light would be shifted down behind.
My conclusion is stars behind would quickly fade to black as the speed of the craft increased, while stars in front would reduce in intensity slowly.
I write science fiction that flips physics on its head. I'm currently writing a story about faster than light travel. Impossible, you say? Well, what about if there was a way to almost eliminate mass? It's the premise of my novel. E=MC2 presumes some relatively large values of mass. Inertia is a property of mass. I'm calling the novel Zero-I.
Now, to bring this more directly to your topic of the Starbow. What happens to stars seen beside the fast moving craft? They would be perceived as rapidly moving streaks, as they go from approaching to retreating. Doesn't it seem like there is the possibility of a starbow there?
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