Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-relativity-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2013/paper-1/1/a/solution

Use the angular-diameter ratio under a collinear boost, with motion along the common sightline and small angular radius . For a boost toward the source, relativistic aberration of the incoming light gives , where is the relative rapidity. Thus the observer seeing the smaller disk has angular diameter reduced by . The ratio two implies , so
The answer is . Both observations occur at one event, so this is a relativistic aberration comparison rather than a change of geometrical distance during observation. Arbitrary transverse relative motion would require additional directional information; the stated motion toward the same distant target selects the collinear interpretation.

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