Religious Cults & False Prophets~ Discussions and DebatesFalse Religions and the AfterlifeI am not arguing against science, I am appealing to cosmology, quantum mechanics, string theory, and all the physical sciences used to determine ages of rocks, galaxies, and our earth. The speed of light in a vacuum is an important physical constant denoted by the letter c for constant or the Latin word celeritas meaning "swiftness". It is the speed of all electromagnetic radiation in a vacuum, not just visible light.
In metric units, c is exactly 299,792,458 metres per second (1,079,252,848.8 km/h). Note that this speed is a definition, not a measurement. Since the fundamental SI unit of length, the metre, has been defined since October 21, 1983 in terms of the speed of light; one metre is the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second. Converted to imperial units, the speed of light is approximately 186,282.397 miles per second, or 670,616,629.384 miles per hour, or almost one foot per nanosecond.
Through a transparent or translucent material medium, like glass or air, it may appear to have a different speed than in a vacuum; the ratio of c to the observed phase velocity (which may be both smaller or larger than c) is called the refractive index of the medium. Changes of gravity, however, warp the space the light has to travel through, making it appear to curve around massive objects. This gives rise to the phenomenon of gravitational lensing, in which large assemblies of matter can refract light from far away sources, so as to produce multiple images and similar optical distortions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_of_light
Quantum physics has shown that a pure vacuum does not exist in nature, therefore the defined constant ignores the reality of outer space. The Doppler effect, named after Christian Doppler, is the change in frequency and wavelength of a wave that is perceived by an observer moving relative to the source of the waves. For waves, such as sound waves, that propagate in a wave medium, the velocity of the observer and of the source are reckoned relative to the medium in which the waves are transmitted. The total Doppler effect may therefore result from either motion of the source or motion of the observer. Each of these effects is analyzed separately. For waves which do not require a medium, such as light or gravity in special relativity only the relative difference in velocity between the observer and the source needs to be considered.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppler_effect
In physics and astronomy, redshift occurs when the electromagnetic radiation, usually visible light, that is emitted from or reflected off of an object is shifted towards the red end of the electromagnetic spectrum. More generally, redshift is defined as an increase in the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation received by a detector compared with the wavelength emitted by the source. This increase in wavelength corresponds to a decrease in the frequency of the electromagnetic radiation. Conversely, a decrease in wavelength is called blue shift.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshift
I cited Wikipedia.com for convenience, there is a lot more concerning the above in other sources.
Is the universe expanding, static, or rolling back on itself? This is another question scientists cannot agree on. So here is a scenario to think about. If the electromagnetic radiation from a distant galaxy shifts to the red, which indicates its speed is greater than what is observed on earth then its original speed must be greater than the speed of light. Also since outer space is not a pure vacuum and lightspeed is defined using a pure vacuum, what effect does this have on the defined speed of light? Also as you posted since the distant galaxies we see are millions of light years away and shift to the red end of the spectrum are they really billions of miles from earth or just millions of miles from earth?
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