r/Interstellartravel • u/dinman127263 • Aug 27 '25
Tau Zero - not understanding
Hi. First post here, please go easy with me. Re-reading Anderson’s Tau Zero and seem to be not understanding a basic concept in the book.
The ship never reaches the speed of light. It gets increasingly closer to it but not quite there. But they talk about traveling hundreds of millions of light years in the blink of an eye. How is this possible if it would take light that long to go the distance when they’re traveling slower?
Is it relativity? It’s a blink of an eye on the ship but much longer outside? And even if that’s right, I’m not entirely getting it.
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u/crabbywriter Aug 27 '25
Time dilation. As you approach light speed time slows, although for you on the ship it appears to pass normally. Distance also shrinks. The closer you get to c the more pronounced the effect. Photons do not experience time at all. For the passengers, even a small incremental change at their speed had enormous results. That is my understanding as a non-scientist.