faster than light

Using flashes from faster-than-light spots to view objects in the universe

January 9, 2015

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Hubble’s variable nebula (credit: William Sparks, STScI; Sylvia Baggett, STScI) et al.; and the Hubble Heritage Team, AURA/ STScI/ NASA)

If you sweep a laser pointer across the Moon fast enough, you can create spots that actually move faster than light

At a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle Thursday Jan. 8, Robert Nemiroff, a physics professor at Michigan Technological University, reported that this theoretical curiosity may turn out to be practically useful out in the cosmos.

When a superluminal sweep occurs, it typically starts with a flash that may reveal previously unknown three-dimensional information about the scattering object./.../