Question

As light from a star spreads out and weakens, do gaps form between the photons?


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Answer 1

ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ɴᴏ ɢᴀᴘs ɪɴ sᴘᴀᴄᴇ ʙᴇᴛᴡᴇᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʜᴏᴛᴏɴs ᴀs ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴛʀᴀᴠᴇʟ. ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴏᴏᴋ ᴀᴛ ʟɪɢʜᴛ ᴀs ᴀ ᴡᴀᴠᴇ, ᴛʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ɴᴏ ɢᴀᴘs ᴜɴʟᴇss sᴘᴇᴄɪғɪᴄᴀʟʟʏ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ᴏɴ ᴘᴜʀᴘᴏsᴇ. ... ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪɢʜᴛ ғʀᴏᴍ ᴀ ᴅɪsᴛᴀɴᴄᴇ sᴛᴀʀ ɪɴᴅᴇᴇᴅ sᴘʀᴇᴀᴅs ᴏᴜᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ᴡᴇᴀᴋᴇɴs ᴀs ɪᴛ ᴛʀᴀᴠᴇʟs, ʙᴜᴛ ᴛʜɪs ᴊᴜsᴛ ʀᴇᴅᴜᴄᴇs ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴀᴠᴇ sᴛʀᴇɴɢᴛʜ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇs ɴᴏᴛ ɪɴᴛʀᴏᴅᴜᴄᴇ ɢᴀᴘs.

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Answer 2

Answer:

you look at light as a collection of little particles, you could say that dimmer light has its photons more spread out. But, they are not spread out in space while traveling. Rather, they are spread out in time and space as they are received. A sufficiently sensitive photon counter device can detect the reception of light one photon at a time. Shine light at such a device and it does not receive the light as a steady stream. Rather, it receives the light as a series of discrete bundles of energy separated by gaps in time. Similarly, shine light at a sufficiently sensitive array of photon counters, and it receives the light at point locations with spatial gaps between them. When viewed in this way, a light beam always has gaps between its photons, whether the light be very bright or very dim. Very dim light beams have larger gaps in time and space between the reception of each photon compared to brighter light beams. Light from a very distant star has spread out over a very large area and become very dim in the process. The gaps between photon reception from a very distant, dim star are therefore large. Again, it is only the reception time and locations that has gaps. There are no gaps in space between the photons as they travel.

If you look at light as a wave, then there no gaps unless specifically placed there on purpose. Of course, if you repeatedly turn on and off a flashlight, the light beam coming from your flashlight will have gaps. Similarly, if you shine a continuous beam of light through a shutter that is repeatedly opening and closing, you can create gaps. But if you shine a continuous beam of light into free space, the wave will start with no gaps and therefore develop no gaps as it travels. Waves are field oscillations that are spread out smoothly through space. Spreading out a wave over a larger area just causes the wave strength to weaken, but