niktemadur@lemmy.world to Ask Science@lemmy.worldEnglish · 1 month agoLet's say I'm idling in space as a radiowave photon approaches; if I accelerate towards it at near the speed of light, can I make that photon blueshift and hit me as a gamma ray?message-squaremessage-square7fedilinkarrow-up130arrow-down11
arrow-up129arrow-down1message-squareLet's say I'm idling in space as a radiowave photon approaches; if I accelerate towards it at near the speed of light, can I make that photon blueshift and hit me as a gamma ray?niktemadur@lemmy.world to Ask Science@lemmy.worldEnglish · 1 month agomessage-square7fedilink
minus-squareMysteriousSophon21@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up2·19 days agoExactly right - the photon’s energy/frequency is completely dependent on the observer’s reference frame, so you’d still see it as a radio wave while the accelerating person would see it as gamma radation.
Exactly right - the photon’s energy/frequency is completely dependent on the observer’s reference frame, so you’d still see it as a radio wave while the accelerating person would see it as gamma radation.