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Terrell Cubes

Terrell Cubes

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Terrell Cubes

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Cubes flying at different fractions of light speed. Length contraction plus light delay make each cube look rotated — the Terrell–Penrose effect.

James Terrell & Roger Penrose, 1959

A cube moving near light speed is length-contracted, but light from its trailing face left earlier. The two effects together look like a rotation — Terrell and Penrose both published it in 1959. Each cube here has a different β; motion lets the fast ones lap the rest.

isometric
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At rest, a cube. Near c, light delay shears it — the same cube, apparently rotated.

Terrell Cubes

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All patterns
{"generator":"GART","pattern":"harmonic-shells","seed":"","params":{"lobes":4,"relief":0.38,"rings":30,"yaw":24,"pitch":28,"fade":0.65}}

Harmonic Shells

{"generator":"GART","pattern":"hopf-fibres","seed":"","params":{"fibres":32,"latitude":0.7,"spread":290,"yaw":26,"pitch":46,"fade":0.65}}

Hopf Fibres

{"generator":"GART","pattern":"torus-knots","seed":"","params":{"knot":"2:3","strands":9,"spread":0.025,"yaw":18,"pitch":36,"radius":0.48,"rotation":-18,"clearance":1.5}}

Torus Knots

{"generator":"GART","pattern":"geodesic-polyhedron","seed":"geo-01","params":{"motion":0,"motionSpeed":1,"seed":"geo-01","solid":"icosahedron","detail":2,"tilt":28,"farSide":70}}

Geodesic Polyhedron

Variations

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