Astronomical distances and velocities and special relativity

Abstract

We show that some primary special relativity effects, which are believed to be hardly detectable in everyday life, such as time dilation, relativistic Doppler effect, and length contraction, should tangibly and spectacularly show up here on the Earth. They should occur in ordinary observations of known astronomical phenomena, also when these phenomena involve astronomical systems that move with very low velocities relative to us but are very distant. We shall do that by providing a reanalysis of the so-called Andromeda paradox and by revisiting the standard explanation of the muon lifetime dilation given when this phenomenon is observed from muon's perspective. Ultimately, we shall show that if Lorentz transformations (and basically, special relativity) are meant to entail real physical consequences, then the observable Universe should appear very differently from what we see every clear night.