Astronomers have discovered a gigantic burst of energy in space that appears to be travelling at seven times the speed of light, which is impossible as nothing can move faster than light in a vacuum. But this is just an optical illusion known as “superluminal motion.” The scientists discovered a beam of energy coming out of the collision of two stars at a phenomenal 99.97% of the speed of light, which is about 670 million miles per hour.
The illusion of the superluminal motion happens when particles in the beam move very close to the speed of light. As the particles in the jet move almost as fast as the light they emit, it can appear as if particles from the beginning of the jet arrive at Earth simultaneously with photons from the end of the jet. This causes the jet to look like it’s travelling faster than the speed of light.
The researchers used the Hubble Space Telescope from NASA, the Gaia space observatory from the European Space Agency, and six other radio telescopes on Earth to study the jet. By taking these measurements, the scientists could calculate both the actual speed of the jet and the apparent speed that seems to violate the laws of physics.
The illusion of moving faster than light has been observed in other space objects, such as a jet shooting out of the Messier 87 galaxy in the Virgo constellation that was found to be travelling almost at the speed of light. Scientists have already described all examples of objects that appear to move faster than light mathematically, without violating the laws of physics.
This study was possible thanks to the discovery of gravitational waves, which can’t be seen with the naked eye but can be detected with gravitational wave observatories like the Large Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory in Pasadena (LIGO). Astronomers turned their telescopes towards the location of the collision after the first gravitational wave explosion caused by two stars colliding was detected by LIGO in 2017. The researchers were able to see a beam of high-speed particles shooting out of the collision spot and illuminating clumps of matter that were being ejected by the stars.
The new discovery of the superluminal motion in this beam of energy has allowed astronomers to understand more about the complex processes occurring in space when two stars collide. Although the optical illusion appears to show objects moving faster than the speed of light, it has been described mathematically in a way that is consistent with the laws of physics.
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