The Lightway Express boasts half the speed of light. According to the advertisements, this relativistic speed literally shortens long trips. This is true.

Having previously discovered the strange effects the Lightway Express has on photos, my natural curiosity drove me to explore more. After scrutinizing several maps, I found that the Lightway Express passes a 30 km long tunnel that lies perpendicular to and alongside the track. Since the tunnel is perpendicular, Special Relativity should have no effect on its length. The width of this tunnel is negligible. With my legendary photography skills, I was able to perfectly time a snapshot aimed directly through the tunnel.

How long does the tunnel appear in my snapshot, and why? What other effects do I observe?

No one has any ideas?

The illusion that occurs here is caused in the same way as in the previous problem.  It has to do with the finite speed of light.  You don't need to understand relativity to solve this problem.  You just need to consider it from the photographer's perspective (to whom the tunnel will appear to be moving backwards), and remember that the speed of light is c.

Posted by Tristan on 2007-03-08 13:12:20