In other words, if relativistic spacecraft are zipping across interstellar space, this kind of signature should be visible using the current generation of astrophysical observatories.
That’s an interesting piece of work that takes the analysis of relativistic space travel to a new level. Other researchers have explored the possibility of observing relativistic spacecraft using the optical emissions that their engines must generate. But Yurtsever and Wilkinson go further.
Of course, they make a number of assumptions, not least of which is that relativistic space travel is possible at all. Indeed, should some advanced civilization make this kind of jump into the cosmos, the interaction with the cosmic photons is likely to be the least of their problems since a collision with matter would be much more damaging.
Yurtsever and Wilkinson provide some numbers to put this in context. For a spacecraft travelling close to the speed of light, the impact with a single cosmic dust grain with a mass of 10^-(14) grams would have an impact energy close to 10,000 megajoules.
Intergalactic space is relatively clear of debris but even still, any relativistic spacecraft would need a way of clearing its path.
Food for thought for potential cosmonauts.
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