Photon Space Drive1970-01-01T00:00:00+00:00A laser (red box mounted on grey support) firing photons (purple) at a space craft to accelerate it. The photons are reflected from the craft's giant reflector. As the photons bounce back, they transfer momentum to the space ship, which speeds up. Alth...PT21Shttps://d38zjy0x98992m.cloudfront.net/db90eda8-f6ae-46d6-a6e2-7ea1317b5c98/Photon_Drive_28_265_xlarge.jpghttps://d38zjy0x98992m.cloudfront.net/db90eda8-f6ae-46d6-a6e2-7ea1317b5c98/Photon_Drive_28_265_mp4_hd_video.mp4https://www.scientific.pictures/-/galleries/astronomy/-/medias/db90eda8-f6ae-46d6-a6e2-7ea1317b5c98/pricehttps://www.scientific.pictures/-/galleries/astronomy/-/medias/db90eda8-f6ae-46d6-a6e2-7ea1317b5c98/price
Photon Space Drive
A laser (red box mounted on grey support) firing photons (purple) at a space craft to accelerate it. The photons are reflected from the craft's giant reflector. As the photons bounce back, they transfer momentum to the space ship, which speeds up. Although photons are massless, they do carry energy at the speed of light and this gives them momentum. At the end of the animation, the laser beam has diverged enough that some photos miss the reflector.
Animation ID: Photon_Drive_265
Duration: 00:21
copyright Russell Kightley
Animation resolution: 1920x1080 pixels @ 60.0 fps, ~11.2 Mbits/s
Animation keywords: astronomy, astrophysics, electromagnetic acceleration, interstellar, laser, light, momentum, movie, photon, photon pressure, photonic, photonic propulsion, pressure, propulsion, radiation pressure, relativistic, rocket, technology, wave
Photon Space Drive2020-08-12T08:04:52ZA laser (red box mounted on grey support) firing photons (purple) at a space craft to accelerate it. The photons are reflected from the craft's giant reflector. As the photons bounce back, they transfer momentum to the space ship, which speeds up. Alth...PT21Shttps://d38zjy0x98992m.cloudfront.net/b6543931-e078-4282-ab96-251935d07286/Photon_Drive_265_xlarge.jpghttps://d38zjy0x98992m.cloudfront.net/b6543931-e078-4282-ab96-251935d07286/Photon_Drive_265_mp4_hd_video.mp4https://www.scientific.pictures/-/galleries/astronomy/-/medias/b6543931-e078-4282-ab96-251935d07286/pricehttps://www.scientific.pictures/-/galleries/astronomy/-/medias/b6543931-e078-4282-ab96-251935d07286/price
Mercury Orbiting Sun1970-01-01T00:00:00+00:00Mercury orbiting our sun. The simulation begins with the planet Mercury (the nearest planet to the sun) appearing at its maximum distance from the sun (aphelion). As Mercury circles around, so ghostly echo planets follow to trace its course. Mercury sp...PT24Shttps://d38zjy0x98992m.cloudfront.net/f350b4eb-abe8-4098-a2d1-a2bc137a18e9/MERCURY_ORBIT_GLOW_UHD_265_xlarge.jpghttps://d38zjy0x98992m.cloudfront.net/f350b4eb-abe8-4098-a2d1-a2bc137a18e9/MERCURY_ORBIT_GLOW_UHD_265_mp4_hd_video.mp4https://www.scientific.pictures/-/galleries/astronomy/-/medias/f350b4eb-abe8-4098-a2d1-a2bc137a18e9/pricehttps://www.scientific.pictures/-/galleries/astronomy/-/medias/f350b4eb-abe8-4098-a2d1-a2bc137a18e9/price