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Luckily it missed us, or we missed it. We're never sure.
Finally, we see a pinpoint of light off in the distance, a star, getting bigger, and it's from the same direction where we first saw that other spaceship. Aha, we are moving.
No, sorry, it's just as accurate to say we stand still, and the star comes towards us. We'd really like to know something for sure here, but it's time to start our engines and head back to our home planet. Maybe some smart people back there can find a way to clear up this sad state of affairs. Does anyone remember where we parked the Earth? Relative to us, of course.
Before Einstein, scientists played the same kind of fantasy game we just did, and they couldn't say if they were moving or standing still either. Newton and others thought all steady (uniform) motion was relative. This view was not The Theory of Relativity.
So far, uniform motion seems relative.
CAN WE FIND SOME WAY TO TEST FOR REAL (ABSOLUTE) MOTION
In this next thought experiment, we'll try out some ideas we can use to find absolute motion. We don't give up that easily.
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