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Originally Posted by xepherys
Well, there WILL be some sort of wave in space. Sound waves exist in space, but there's not enough matter for them to bounce around to hear. If light waves stopped in space, they'd never get to Earth. Therefore, exceeding the speed of light WOULD, in fact, cause some distraction. In the event it's similar to a sonic boom, it would be caused by exceeding the speed of light reflecting from the forward facing areas of the vehicle. |
Hmm. OK first off sound waves do not travel through space. At all. It's not that there isn't matter for them to bounce off of. Sound waves are propagated through matter. Lack of matter = lack of sound.
The shock from exceeding the speed of sound is actually from pressure building up on the leading edges of the aircraft. So no, there wouldn't be a similar shock in a light speed transition because there won't be any matter to build up that pressure wave with.
Light waves and sound waves are VERY different. In fact, calling light a wave is just because we don't know anything better to call it. Light behaves as both a wave and a particle. Sound behaves as a wave, mainly because it IS a wave.
But all this is moot because it is not possible to exceed the speed of light in normal space. Anything we do to exceed the speed of light will have to be a cheat of sorts. So in fact there will be no transition period as there is with the speed of sound.