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spaceship - How did the Avalon (seemingly) get to Arcturus so quickly if they're only traveling at .5 of lightspeed?


Assume spoilers about Passengers from here, but really this has nothing to do with the plot so...


There are a number of tiny points to criticize in the film, but what I'm really coming up empty on is the math concerning where they are and how.


I think we know these things:



  • The ship has been on course from Earth for 30 years


  • The ship when we meet the cast is moving at ~50% lightspeed

  • At 31 years the ship passes Arcturus

  • Arcturus is a red giant star ~37 lightyears from Earth and will not be much closer than that ever before it finally completes its trip across the plane of our galaxy and goes away.


So did they travel around ~37 lightyears in thirty years? Did I miss something?




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