All explainers
LIGHT CLOCKSSPEED00000000
Home clock0ticks
Ship clock0ticks

Both clocks tick together.

The twin trip: out to a star and back
Twin at home has aged0.0years
Twin on the ship has aged0.0years

Both twins start the same age.

It's real: measured, not just maths

Calculated, not measured: after six months on the space station, an astronaut ends up about 4½ thousandths of a second younger than people on the ground.

ISS v ≈ 7.66 km/s, h ≈ 420 km · 182.6 days: speed -5.15 ms, height +0.68 ms, net -4.47 ms (model, not a measurement)

The flash of light and the path it tracesShip clock on its carriage (left), home clock standing still (right)Light always moves at the same speed. On the moving ship the flash has to travel a longer, slanted path to get from one mirror to the other, so each tick takes longer. The faster the ship, the slower its clock, as seen from home. This is real and measured: GPS satellites, muons, clocks on airliners and clocks in a lab all show it.