An experiment has visualized a prediction about objects traveling at the speed of light known as the Terrell-Penrose effect, first made over 60 years ago. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

When an object approaches the speed of light (let's call the object a spaceship, for ease), a number of strange things take place. According to our best classical model of the universe , an observer looking at the spaceship passing by will see the length of the spaceship as shorter.

"Suppose a rocket whizzes past us at ninety [percent] of the speed of light," Professor Peter Schattschneider from TU Wien explained in a statement . "For us, it no longer has the same length as before it took off, but is 2.3 times shorter."

Meanwhile,

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