Question concerning coordinates in space.
Everyone knows that the earth revolves around the sun and that each year, on the same day, the earth is roughly the same location in relation to the sun. Quite conveniently, nearly every time travel story involves someone ending up in the future or in the past on the exact same date, but a different year. This compensates for the location of earth in the orbit. What would happen if it weren't the same date (based on this idea)?
For example, I travel back in time to July 15, 1995. The earth's orbit in relation to the sun isn't where it would be if I had gone back to July 25th, 1995, therefore, would the time warp tunnel place me in space in exactly the location that the earth will be in in another 10 days or would it conveniently place me on earth in relation to the location of the poles from which I started?
That's just one point to be made.
Everyone also knows (most at least), that the solar system itself is moving through space at incredible speeds. We don't really notice it here. It takes quite a long time for our relation to other stars to become really noticable. Millions of years in most cases.
Now let's say I travel back in time to that same date. July 15, 1995. Not only is the earth not in the same location in relation to the Sun, the but the Sun is not at the same spacial coordinates that it was (or will be based on start travel time), on July 25th, 2004. Therefore, when I go through the time warp tunnel, not only will I not be on earth in the same location I started from in 2004, but I may not even be near the solar system at all. Poof! I go off into space.
I understand that it's very convenient for everyone to assume that they will materialize somehow in the past or future exactly the same place on earth they started. But in actuality, even if you time traveled only a few seconds, your location would not remain constant in relation to the earth.
This problem, it would seem, would make time travel quite unfeasable. Possible perhaps to travel through time, but quite troublesome. Materialize in space somewhere out there. Materialize within the earth, within the sun? That wouldn't be much fun, now would it?
Any thoughts on this are quite welcome. Just something I was pondering over dinner last night.
Everyone knows that the earth revolves around the sun and that each year, on the same day, the earth is roughly the same location in relation to the sun. Quite conveniently, nearly every time travel story involves someone ending up in the future or in the past on the exact same date, but a different year. This compensates for the location of earth in the orbit. What would happen if it weren't the same date (based on this idea)?
For example, I travel back in time to July 15, 1995. The earth's orbit in relation to the sun isn't where it would be if I had gone back to July 25th, 1995, therefore, would the time warp tunnel place me in space in exactly the location that the earth will be in in another 10 days or would it conveniently place me on earth in relation to the location of the poles from which I started?
That's just one point to be made.
Everyone also knows (most at least), that the solar system itself is moving through space at incredible speeds. We don't really notice it here. It takes quite a long time for our relation to other stars to become really noticable. Millions of years in most cases.
Now let's say I travel back in time to that same date. July 15, 1995. Not only is the earth not in the same location in relation to the Sun, the but the Sun is not at the same spacial coordinates that it was (or will be based on start travel time), on July 25th, 2004. Therefore, when I go through the time warp tunnel, not only will I not be on earth in the same location I started from in 2004, but I may not even be near the solar system at all. Poof! I go off into space.
I understand that it's very convenient for everyone to assume that they will materialize somehow in the past or future exactly the same place on earth they started. But in actuality, even if you time traveled only a few seconds, your location would not remain constant in relation to the earth.
This problem, it would seem, would make time travel quite unfeasable. Possible perhaps to travel through time, but quite troublesome. Materialize in space somewhere out there. Materialize within the earth, within the sun? That wouldn't be much fun, now would it?
Any thoughts on this are quite welcome. Just something I was pondering over dinner last night.