Chapter 330: Chapter 318 It seems that Master Lynn is going to miscalculate this time!
While the Wizards of Greenrill City were studying methods to measure the speed of light, a conversation was also taking place inside the estate of Legendary Councilman Harrov.
“The existing magic theories in Wizard Land are all very rudimentary… Did he really say that?”
After listening to Aurora’s recollection, Harrov couldn’t help furrowing his brows. Lynn’s words were undoubtedly a provocation to the entire Wizard Land.
It was also a great disrespect to the pioneers who had devoted themselves to developing and researching magical studies. Even with exceptional knowledge, one should not be so arrogant.
“No, I think he meant not just Wizard Land; the magic theories developed by the Secret Magic Society are no exception. In the face of optics, they all seem incredibly simplistic…” Aurora explained, while also recalling what Lynn had said at the conference.
Optics is the most important key to unlocking the secrets of the microscopic real world…
...
What exactly is this real world referring to?
Could it be that the world they see now is all false?
Aurora pondered, still unable to fully grasp the meaning behind those words.
Harrov also fell into deep thought. From their previous interactions and the various novel theories Lynn had put forth, it was clear that the Secret Magic Society’s understanding of magic and this world was far deeper than theirs.
If these words were not meant as intentional mockery and arrogance, then they were worth exploring. What kind of secrets does the omnipresent light contain that warrant such an evaluation…
Harrov really wanted to attend another gathering of the legendary Wizards to ask in person, but he had yet to receive another invitation.
Although Harrov, with his Secret Magic Ring, had the right to organize meetings with others, it would appear too eager on his part. Most importantly, he still hadn’t figured out that cosmic Big Bang theory, nor had he developed any novel theories worthy of discussion among the legends.
Thinking of this, Harrov faintly understood why the meeting of the legendary Wizards had not yet convened. It’s normal for a magical research project to take seven or eight years, or even more than a decade, to yield little outcome. The annual academic seminar in Wizard Land was already considered frequent.
“It seems we must place greater emphasis on our study of optics,” Harrov said with an extremely solemn expression, and then turned to look at Aurora, asking out of curiosity, “Do you have a way to measure the speed of light?”
Aurora was among them the one who had the deepest understanding of optics. If even she had no way to measure the speed of light, then perhaps no one in Wizard Land could.
“I think we can start with astrometry!” Aurora said pensively.
What’s the most difficult part of measuring the speed of light? Of course, it’s that the speed of light is unbelievably fast. They couldn’t find a space large enough to conduct experiments, nor could they create a light strong enough to cross thousands of kilometers.
When it comes to vast distances, what better than the cosmic starry sky!
Based on the data they calculated last year, the diameter of their entire planet was tens of thousands of kilometers, and the distances between planets were even more remote. The most crucial point was that the Sun above their heads was a super large light source. As long as they knew the distance between the two, couldn’t they measure the speed of light?
“This method is not bad!” Harrov praised, but almost immediately, as if thinking of something, he hurriedly interjected, “No, that’s not right. The moment we see the Sun, the light has already arrived; there’s simply no way to measure the speed of light based on that.”
According to Lynn’s words, everything they see is a reflection of light; before the light arrives, they can’t see the Sun at all, so how can it serve as a reference point?
Aurora also frowned upon realizing this point that she had indeed not considered before, but just a few seconds later, she smiled again. “Then we can try observing distant celestial bodies!”
“For instance, the companion star of Teal occasionally disappears, presumably because it has rotated to the far side of Teal, out of the Sun’s light, and that’s why we can’t see it…
The rotation period of a planet should be extremely stable and regular, but in reality, it’s not so. According to my observations, the disappearance of the companion star is not consistent throughout the year, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, changing every month…”
This peculiar astronomical phenomenon had once puzzled her, but now she had an answer!
Because over the course of a year, Teal’s distance from their position on the Sun’s orbit varies, the light from the Sun needs time to travel to the companion star and then reflect back to be seen by them—it doesn’t arrive instantly. If they knew the distances between the two celestial bodies and the Eternal Star, they might be able to deduce the speed of light!
After listening to Aurora’s explanation, Harrov was ecstatic. “You always have a way. It looks like you’re set to win this year’s Silver Moon Medal!”
While saying this, Harrov couldn’t help but burst into laughter, realizing that this time Lynn might have miscalculated.
Lynn boldly promised to nominate the person who could measure the speed of light for the Silver Moon Medal, clearly very confident that they couldn’t find a way to measure the speed of light in just a few days. But it appears he underestimated their capabilities!
“There’s just one problem…” Aurora said hesitantly.
“What problem?” Harrov asked with a chuckle.
“We are still in the process of calculating the diameters and distances of various planets. So far, we have only figured out the distance between the Sun and the Moon from the Eternal Star beneath our feet. We haven’t gotten around to Teal yet…” Aurora said, sounding somewhat helpless.
Their method for measuring the diameters and distances of planets was provided by Lynn’s three great laws of the stars and parallax method. Due to the immense size of the planets, the data they obtained was incredible. They often had to repeat the calculations for confirmation, making the process extremely slow.
“You haven’t finished the calculations in nearly a year?” Harrov looked incredulous. That was as if they hadn’t made any progress at all. Lynn was going to verify the theories after that conference, but where would they find the time to wait that long?
Aurora rolled her eyes at Harrov. This past year, they also had to verify Lynn’s theories and redraw a detailed star map. Teal was not a key planet, so it was naturally lower down on the list.
Moreover, although this method of measuring the speed of light was feasible, considering the rotation of the planets themselves, there could be some errors, and they could only estimate an approximate value.
“In that case, we still have to resort to the dumb way of doing things like replicating your original experiment. If one kilometer is not enough, then ten kilometers, or even a hundred kilometers!” Harrov declared decisively.
“Actually, there are already quite a few people preparing to conduct similar experiments. Their ideas are all very interesting. Let those people fuss over it.” Aurora shook her head. Since there were people willing to help with the verification, saving some effort wouldn’t be so bad.