Laboratory makes relativity effect visible
Lasers and ultrashort camera exposures have recreated an optical consequence of near-light speed.
Researchers have made the Terrell–Penrose effect visible in a laboratory setup. The experiment did not accelerate a large object to near-light speed, but optically recreated the relevant light travel times.
The Terrell–Penrose effect describes how a rapidly moving object appears to an observer. According to the theory of special relativity, an object would be measured as shorter in the direction of motion, but at very high speed a camera mainly sees a distorted image.
That difference arises because light does not reach the camera from all points on a moving object at the same time. Light from the back may have departed earlier than light from the front. The camera therefore combines information from different moments in the motion.
The researchers used laser pulses and an ultrafast camera. By virtually slowing the propagation of light in the setup to less than two metres per second, they were able to capture a sphere and a cube in images that recreate the relativistic optical effect.
According to the publication, the camera’s shutter speed could be reduced to about 300 picoseconds. This is important because the researchers had to record the different arrival times of the light in a controlled manner. The result is an experimental visualisation, not a direct recording of an object actually moving at near-light speed.
The original study appeared in 2025 in Communications Physics, a peer-reviewed journal. In 2026, an addendum appeared and the setup received renewed attention through science media and institutions. The work is therefore a published experimental demonstration, not a new theory or discovery that replaces the theory of relativity.
The experiment’s main value lies in translating an abstract prediction into a visible image. It may assist education and further research, but in itself says nothing about applications for fast vehicles, space travel or new laws of physics.
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The description follows the original publication and the explanation from the Technische Universität Wien. The text avoids suggesting that genuine near-light speeds were achieved with a large object.
- confirmed The Terrell–Penrose effect concerns the visible shape of rapidly moving objects. — This is the central description in the original publication. source
- confirmed The researchers used laser pulses and ultrafast photography. — The abstract of Communications Physics mentions picosecond laser pulses and ultrafast photography. source
- confirmed The virtual speed of light was reduced to less than two metres per second. — This is stated in the study’s abstract. source
- confirmed The original study appeared in 2025 in Communications Physics. — The DOI listing and the TU Wien page refer to Communications Physics 8 (2025). source
- confirmed The experiment did not actually accelerate a large object to near-light speed. — The setup uses an optical simulation with slowed light propagation; this follows from the experimental method. source
Editor's note
The research has been peer-reviewed and published as an experiment. The setup visualises the effect through controlled light travel times; no macroscopic object was accelerated to near-light speed.Sources
- A snapshot of relativistic motion: visualizing the Terrell-Penrose effect — Communications Physics
- Terrell-Penrose Effekt Experiment schlägt große Wellen — Technische Universität Wien
More on this in Dutch media
- RTL Nieuws — „relativiteitstheorie terrell-penrose-effect”
- NOS — „relativiteitstheorie terrell-penrose-effect”
- Het Parool — „relativiteitstheorie terrell-penrose-effect”