What time is it in Space? (Not the ISS)

[Roley]

The question does not relate to the ISS or International Space Station.

What time is it in space?

How would time be documented by global space travel?

[SaddleSC]

I would assume it would be notated in Zulu-time (GMT) because that is the standard for all other types of aviation.

[Black_5]

Stardate.

Stardates are a mathematical formula which varies depending on location in the galaxy, velocity of travel, and other factors.

Originally Posted by Gunnar_917

^^ tells the truth on Internet forums

So many watches, So little time...

[Roley]

Originally Posted by SaddleSC

I would assume it would be notated in Zulu-time (GMT) because that is the standard for all other types of aviation.

Who would determine to use Zulu-time? Let's say even if you were stationary in space, what time would it be? or if a starship was to meet another starship at a certain point in the galaxy at a certain time, how would that be calculated?

[The Joker]

It's spacetime baby

[Roley]

Originally Posted by The Joker

It's spacetime baby

A few Guinness might help with spacetime lol.

[Roley]

Originally Posted by Black_5

Stardate.


Stardates are a mathematical formula which varies depending on location in the galaxy, velocity of travel, and other factors.





So many watches, So little time...

Stardates make sense, but if two ships were to meet at a specific time in space, how would that be calculated?

[SearChart]

Originally Posted by Roley

Who would determine to use Zulu-time? Let's say even if you were stationary in space, what time would it be? or if a starship was to meet another starship at a certain point in the galaxy at a certain time, how would that be calculated?

Stationary relative to what? Our planet? The sun?

We are moving in the solar system, which is moving in the galaxy, which in turn is moving as well. Oh and the universe is expanding.
Space is messed-up goofy sh!te, I don't think we should be worried about time in space just yet.

[Roley]

Originally Posted by SearChart

Stationary relative to what? Our planet? The sun?

We are moving in the solar system, which is moving in the galaxy, which in turn is moving as well. Oh and the universe is expanding.
Space is messed-up goofy sh!te, I don't think we should be worried about time in space just yet.

Stationary, out of our galaxy, no sun or revolving planets.

[SearChart]

Originally Posted by Roley

Stationary, out of our galaxy, no sun or revolving planets.

You'll still be moving, doesn't matter where you are. Even if you are in between superclusters, something is always moving towards or away from you and gravity will have an effect on you.

There is no stationary in space.

[Roley]

Originally Posted by SearChart

You'll still be moving, doesn't matter where you are. Even if you are in between superclusters, something is always moving towards or away from you and gravity will have an effect on you.

There is no stationary in space.

My perception of two space ships sitting in outer space stationary would be blamed on watching too many Stat Trek movies lol. Anyhow, it still doesn't answer the question as to what time it would be in space. (burp)

[Valenciawatchrepair]

Originally Posted by SearChart

You'll still be moving, doesn't matter where you are. Even if you are in between superclusters, something is always moving towards or away from you and gravity will have an effect on you.

There is no stationary in space.

I was thinking about this the other day. Even if both ships were side by side....if there was nothing close by to determine relative speed, they could be moving at who knows what speed. But, there's no way to know. 5mph? 1 million mph? There's no way to tell. And even if you do have something to reference, how fast is that reference actually moving too? My head wants to explode trying to contemplate it all!

[Andad]

I just punch in the co-ordinates for South Australia.

[Wesley Crusher]

We use stardate.

[kulak]

Fun fact. A Rolex in orbit would not stay perfectly in sync with earth due to relativity.

[breitlings]

Originally Posted by kulak

Fun fact. A Rolex in orbit would not stay perfectly in sync with earth due to relativity.

It would take a long time at 20k-30k MPH, you need to be closer to the speed of light for it to be out of sync in a noticeably short amount of time if observing from earth. But you are absolutely right, even things like atomic decay slow down the faster you get.


A very interesting question, especially if you consider effects of gravity on C, and potentially wormholes and string theory's ~17 dimensions.

[Roley]

How about a Coordinated Universal Time? (UTC) which is much like GMT.

So if a space craft left earth and entered space, your watch would be set to UTC. This could set a universal standard for all space travel around the world leaving earth from any location.

[joeychitwood]

Time in space depends on who is asking and where they are, how fast they are moving in relation to expanding space-time, how much gravity they are experiencing and what point of reference is being used to determine the speed of light, which can delineate a unit of time. To simplify, I'd just set my G-Shock before I launched and bring extra batteries.

[Roley]

Maybe time would not exist beyond our galaxy in outer space. If I was a ship (A) wanting to meet ship (B) for coffee beyond the galaxy, how would this be calculated?

[Roley]

Originally Posted by Wesley Crusher

We use stardate.

Star date is a fictional system of time Mr Crusher. Captains log 999. lol

[GradyPhilpott]

Whatever method would be used in space to coordinate time, it would be arbitrary and used by agreement with participating parties.

[Phrank]

What a great thread, makes me almost miss my days of smoking the Mystic Herb....

[Laszlo]

It's spacy out there man.

[Black_5]

The current time is a relative concept and is defined by whatever tool, device or measurement standard is being used by the time teller.

For 2 ships in space to coordinate a meeting at a specific time, they would first have to agree on a measurement standard and a tool to use to measure it that would behave consistently and change at the same rate for both of them.

They would also need to synchronise at some point prior to setting the appointment.

Originally Posted by Gunnar_917

^^ tells the truth on Internet forums

So many watches, So little time...

[kulak]

Originally Posted by breitlings

It would take a long time at 20k-30k MPH, you need to be closer to the speed of light for it to be out of sync in a noticeably short amount of time if observing from earth. But you are absolutely right, even things like atomic decay slow down the faster you get.


A very interesting question, especially if you consider effects of gravity on C, and potentially wormholes and string theory's ~17 dimensions.

Even the clocks on satellites in orbit have to be design with relativity in mind. Otherwise GPS could go a bit wonky even being off by a minuscule amount of time.

[Roley]

Originally Posted by Black_5

The current time is a relative concept and is defined by whatever tool, device or measurement standard is being used by the time teller.

For 2 ships in space to coordinate a meeting at a specific time, they would first have to agree on a measurement standard and a tool to use to measure it that would behave consistently and change at the same rate for both of them.

They would also need to synchronise at some point prior to setting the appointment.



So many watches, So little time...

Good analogy, this also makes sense with earth ships. However, if lets say ship (B) was from another galaxy, different inhabited planet, and the meeting was to take place at a certain time between the two galaxies, how would this be calculated?

[joeychitwood]

Gravity will really mess up the time concept in space. The clocks on GPS satellites go faster than clocks on Earth because they experience less gravity, so a correction is programmed into the GPS system for gravity effects. Gravity also curves space-time, so the distance between two points is longer in a strong gravity field than the same two points in space if a gravity field is not nearby.

[joeychitwood]

The one thing you can say with certainty is that to any observer, at any point in time, it is the present moment. To quote Tolle, "Life consists entirely of the present moment."

[Roley]

Originally Posted by kulak

Even the clocks on satellites in orbit have to be design with relativity in mind. Otherwise GPS could go a bit wonky even being off by a minuscule amount of time.

We may be getting somewhere with relativity and GPS. However this just adds to the chronological confusion.

[Roley]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

Gravity will really mess up the time concept in space. The clocks on GPS satellites go faster than clocks on Earth because they experience less gravity, so a correction is programmed into the GPS system for gravity effects. Gravity also curves space-time, so the distance between two points is longer in a strong gravity field than the same two points in space if a gravity field is not nearby.

Good analogy, However, satellites would not exist beyond our galaxy.