Variable speed of light contribute to the above refractive index, Dicke considered a cosmology where "c" decreased in time, providing an alternative explanation to the cosmological redshift (p. 374). Dicke's theory is compatible with the SI definition of c since the time and length units second and meter can vary in concert, keeping the value of c fixed (p. 366). Spatial variation of the speed of light is implicitly present in general relativity, occurring in the coordinate space description.: "note that the photon speed is ... formula_9." (formula_10 denoting the gravitational potential −"GM"/"r") Based on this observation, variable speed of light models, including Dicke's,
Speed of light they appeared 13 billion years ago, when the universe was less than a billion years old. The fact that more distant objects appear to be younger, due to the finite speed of light, allows astronomers to infer the evolution of stars, of galaxies, and of the universe itself. Astronomical distances are sometimes expressed in light-years, especially in popular science publications and media. A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, around 9461 billion kilometres, 5879 billion miles, or 0.3066 parsecs. In round figures, a light year is nearly 10 trillion kilometres or nearly 6 trillion miles. Proxima Centauri,