Now this is an interesting question, deserving of a thorough discussion!


One of the effects predicted by Special Relativity is that moving things (imagine a one-meter long pole) appear shorter in the direction they're moving in for an observer at rest. I.e., if I throw a 1-m-pole past you:



Then it'll appear shorter than 1m to you. Instead, it'll seem to be 1m/\Gamma for you.


So if you're moving at a noticable fraction of c (let's ignore velocities bigger than c for now -- on the grounds that since the energy needed to get you there approaches infinity, but we can try and discuss that theoretical thing later if you want), in a system that has you at rest (your rest frame) will see the stars moving in a noticable fraction of c. In turn, they'd appear shorter.

But here's the thing: This is all regarding the pure length of the object. We're interested in what we see, right? If that is the case, then we'll find the complete opposite to be true.

This is known as Terrell Rotation (or, depending on who you ask, Penrose-Terrell rotation).
Here's a nice article on it: Link!

Now, if you do the math, you'll find:
objects passing you appear rotated (see above)
objects moving away from you appear contracted
objects moving closer to you appear elongated.


So yes, you might actually see those kind of lines.

Joey, Alberto -- does anyone of you know more about this Perrell-Tenrose-effect that you'd like to add?