Riding Light

Riding Light (2015)

January 1st, 20150h 45min

Animation, Documentary
80%

Overview

In our terrestrial view of things, the speed of light seems incredibly fast. But as soon as you view it against the vast distances of the universe, it's unfortunately very slow. This animation illustrates, in realtime, the journey of a photon of light emitted from the surface of the sun and traveling across a portion of the solar system, from a human perspective. Liberties were taken with certain things like the alignment of planets and asteroids, as well as ignoring the laws of relativity concerning what a photon actually "sees" or how time is experienced at the speed of light, but overall the size and distances of all the objects were kept as accurate as possible. It was also decided to end the animation just past Jupiter to keep the running length below an hour.


Make sure to check your pop-up blocker!!

Trailer

Similar Movies

Black Suns: An Astrophysics Adventure

Black Suns: An Astrophysics Adventure


Released on:
Documentary

BLACK SUNS: AN ASTROPHYSICS ADVENTURE is a documentary about chasing eclipses and science dreams. It...

The Sun and Man

The Sun and Man


Released on: 2018-06-16
Documentary

The Sun was born way before Man existed. What exact role did the Sun play in the emergence of life a...

Cosmic Voyage

Cosmic Voyage


Released on: 1996-08-09
Documentary

The Academy Award® nominee Cosmic Voyage combines live action with state-of-the-art computer-generat...

Who's Out There?

Who's Out There?


Released on: 1975-01-01
Documentary

Orson Welles — with contributions from scientists George Wald, Carl Sagan, and others — examines the...

Why It Was Almost Impossible to Make the Blue LED

Why It Was Almost Impossible to Make the Blue LED


Released on:
Documentary

The blue LED was supposed to be impossible—until a young engineer proposed a moonshot idea.

A Message to the Stars

A Message to the Stars


Released on: 2021-10-23
Documentary

For more than 50 years, we’ve been unsuccessfully searching for any evidence of intelligent extrater...

Povrchové napětí

Povrchové napětí


Released on: 1951-02-02
Documentary

The Conquest of Light

The Conquest of Light


Released on: 1960-08-13
Documentary

The film discusses the evolution and potential of using light waves, particularly coherent light, fo...

A Brief History of Time

A Brief History of Time


Released on: 1991-10-01
Documentary

This shows physicist Stephen Hawking's life as he deals with the ALS that renders him immobile and u...

Black Holes: The Edge of All We Know

Black Holes: The Edge of All We Know


Released on: 2020-03-18
Documentary

Black holes stand at the limit of what we can know. To explore that edge of knowledge, the Event Hor...

Planets of the Sun

Planets of the Sun


Released on: 1985-01-01
Documentary, Family

An Educational Favorites VHS from the NATURE SERIES featuring Leonard Nimoy

Hawking: Can You Hear Me?

Hawking: Can You Hear Me?


Released on: 2021-09-20
Documentary, History

A documentary telling the remarkable human story of Stephen Hawking. For the first time, the persona...

Black Holes: Messages from the Edge of the Universe

Black Holes: Messages from the Edge of the Universe


Released on: 2017-05-06
Documentary

It is the birth of neutrino astronomy. For the first time, astrophysicists can detect extra-terrestr...

The Universe: God and the Universe

The Universe: God and the Universe


Released on: 2011-01-03
Documentary

Where did the universe come from and did a creator have a hand in making it? As scientists learn mor...

Mars: a Traveller's Guide

Mars: a Traveller's Guide


Released on: 2017-09-12
Documentary

What is the Theory of Relativity?

What is the Theory of Relativity?


Released on: 1964-01-15
Documentary

In a compartment of the Moscow-Novosibirsk train, a young physicist meets famous film actors. The co...

The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays

The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays


Released on: 1957-10-25
Animation, Family

Part of acclaimed filmmaker Frank Capra's "Wonders of Life" series of science-based films (which won...

Hubble: Thirty Years of Discovery

Hubble: Thirty Years of Discovery


Released on: 2020-04-19
Documentary

For thirty years, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered new alien worlds, black holes, and th...

A Trip to Infinity

A Trip to Infinity


Released on: 2022-09-26
Documentary

Does infinity exist? Can we experience the Infinite? In an animated film (created by artists from 10...

The UFO Movie THEY Don't Want You to See

The UFO Movie THEY Don't Want You to See


Released on: 2023-08-20
Documentary

In an age when misinformation, alternative facts, and conspiracy theories have become mainstream, UF...