Relativistic Astronomy

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2018

Publication Title

Astrophysical Journal

Publisher

Institute of Physics Publishing

Volume

854

Issue

2

Abstract

The "Breakthrough Starshot" aims at sending near-speed-of-light cameras to nearby stellar systems in the future. Due to the relativistic effects, a transrelativistic camera naturally serves as a spectrograph, a lens, and a wide-field camera. We demonstrate this through a simulation of the optical-band image of the nearby galaxy M51 in the rest frame of the transrelativistic camera. We suggest that observing celestial objects using a transrelativistic camera may allow one to study the astronomical objects in a special way, and to perform unique tests on the principles of special relativity. We outline several examples that suggest transrelativistic cameras may make important contributions to astrophysics and suggest that the Breakthrough Starshot cameras may be launched in any direction to serve as a unique astronomical observatory. © 2018. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Keywords

methods: observational

Language

English

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