Time Dilation

Time dilation is a phenomenon caused by relativity and gravitational effects, commonly seen in sub-light engines approaching lightspeed in realspace.

Workings
Time dilation can be seen in spacecraft or satellites orbiting a planet, which usually lag behind only 0.01 seconds from a planetside clock. Due to this, computers aboard satellites that provide real-time online services must compensate for the difference in time, no matter how minimal. Gravitational time dilation, which causes time for objects further from a gravitational center to accelerate, can only be perceived within within incredibly strong gravity wells, which usually destroy observers. Time dilation is usually an extremely miniscule effect, although the most visible and drastic form of time dilation involves space travel at speeds comparable to that of light, while not protected by relativity shields. When an object approaches lightspeed in realspace, such as a generation ship, any observers within the object will experience time at a slower rate than those outside the ship. For instance, an unshielded sub-light craft could make a jump over a large spacial distance, which takes only a few hours or days for the crew, but takes months or years for an outside observer. This is considered a form of time travel, although it only goes forward with no way to reverse it. Relativity shields on standard Light Drives and other spacecraft prevent the effects of time dilation, as Hyperspace is also susceptible to time dilation. A time dilation-like anomaly was seen over Reaper's system, caused by a black hole-like space-time anomaly that engulfed the system's star.