Motion near the cosmic speed limit
Ute Kraus
July 14, 2005
The speed of light in vacuum – 299 792 458 meters per second or more than a billion kilometers per hour – is the ultimate speed limit, enforced by the laws of nature. Compared to light, motion in everyday life is extremely slow. But even though we never experience high velocities ourselves, in theory we understand them very well. Computer simulations based on the special theory of relativity make it possible to simply take a look at objects moving at nearly the speed of light.