Explore a Minkowski light cone: null lines at 45 deg when c = 1, with literacy figure c = 299,792.458 km/s, and past / future / elsewhere regions.
Published literacy: c = 299,792.458 km/s. On a Minkowski diagram with c = 1 units, light follows 45 deg null lines; events sort into past, future, or elsewhere.
Drag to orbit and scroll or pinch to zoom. Scrub the probe event, snap to a null ray, or toggle past / future / elsewhere layers.
Light Cone 3D Explorer
This browser explorer shows a Minkowski light cone - null lines at 45 deg when c = 1, with absolute speed c = 299,792.458 km/s, and the past / future / elsewhere regions of flat spacetime.
Gravity Well 3D owns embedding-diagram escape wells. Redshift Doppler 3D owns spectral shift. This page owns causal structure on a light cone.
- Future (green) and past (orange) light cones at 45 deg null lines
- Elsewhere markers in the spacelike region
- Probe event with x / ct scrubbers and causal label
- Snap-to-null-ray preset
- Facts panel lists c = 299,792.458 km/s and 45 deg literacy
- Distinct from gravity-well and redshift-doppler
- Runs fully in the browser with the vendored three.js engine - no account, no upload
Students see why light defines causal boundaries; teachers demo past vs elsewhere without a chalkboard sketch; curious readers connect c = 299,792.458 km/s to the 45 deg diagram convention.
| Figure | Value | Source note |
|---|---|---|
| Speed of light c | 299,792.458 km/s | Exact SI-defined literacy |
| Null lines | 45 deg (c=1 units) | Light-like paths on Minkowski diagram |
| Regions | past / future / elsewhere | Timelike vs spacelike separation |
Everything renders on your device with WebGL. The 3D engine loads once (about 0.7 MB) and is cached; no scene data is sent to a server.
This is an educational Minkowski diagram - not a curved-spacetime solver and not a GR geodesic integrator.
For a step-by-step walkthrough, read the Light Cone 3D Explorer step-by-step guide. The Space 3D collection also includes Gravity Well 3D and Redshift Doppler 3D.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Light Cone 3D Explorer show?
A Minkowski teaching diagram with future and past light cones, elsewhere markers, and a probe event. Literacy figures include c = 299,792.458 km/s and 45 deg null lines when c = 1.
Why are the cones at 45 degrees?
When space and time axes use units where c = 1, light-like paths sit on 45 deg lines. The absolute speed remains c = 299,792.458 km/s.
What is elsewhere?
Elsewhere is the spacelike region outside the cones - events that cannot be connected to the origin by a signal slower than or equal to light.
How is this different from Gravity Well 3D?
Gravity Well 3D teaches escape-velocity embedding diagrams. This page teaches causal structure on a flat-spacetime light cone.
Is this a GR curved-spacetime solver?
No. It is an educational Minkowski diagram for flat spacetime - not a Schwarzschild geodesic integrator.
What does Snap to null ray do?
It places the probe on a future light-like path at 45 deg so the facts panel reads null (light-like).