Lights Illuminate Surfaces Superluminally

Abstract

When a light bulb is turned on, light moves away from it at speed $c$, by definition. When light from this bulb illuminates a surface, however, this illumination front is not constrained to move at speed $c$. A simple proof is given that this illumination front always moves {\it faster} than $c$. Generalized, when any compact light source itself varies, this information spreads across all of the surfaces it illuminates at speeds faster than light.