Length contraction

In special relativity, length contraction is the phenomenon where a moving object's length is measured to be shorter than its proper length. The proper length of the object is the length as measured in the object's own rest frame. Other names for length contraction are Lorentz contraction or even Lorentz-FitzGerald contraction. Length contraction is usually only noticeable at substantial fractions of the speed of light. Length contraction also only occurs in the direction of the object's motion. 

For standard objects at everyday speeds, the effect is negligible. However, it becomes apparent as one approaches the speed of light relative to the observer. 

The proper length of an object is its length at the object's own rest frame. The effects of length contraction are usually only noticeable at or near the speed of light, or, relativistic velocities. 

Length contraction is also only viewable in the direction the body is traveling. 

Lorentz-FitzGerald contraction hypothesis

Hendrik Lorentz and George FitzGerald first postulated length contraction. This was to explain the negative outcome of the Michelson-Morley experiment. This was to rescue the hypothesis of the stationary ether.  

What was known was that electrostatic fields in motion were deformed. 

Lorentz believed that length contraction involved a physical contraction of the atoms that made up an object. Lorentz also held there would be "compressive strains" on these bodies that could be measured.