If the above statement is true, then technically we would be looking back in time as we are seeing something wich no longer exists. What if there was some form of life in space that could emit a light that is just as strong? Could we watch a lifeform moving around that's already dead? - Opinions?
2006-06-14 16:56:18 · 11 answers · asked by send_felix_mail 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Yes, in a way, looking at distant objects in our universe is like looking back in time.
The farther away we look, the older the image we are seeing is.
As fast as light travels, it still only travels at a finite speed and takes time to cross the VAST distances of interstellar (or even intergalactic) space.
Things we wee in the sky could be billions of years old, we could be watching the formation of a new star (or for that matter, be receiving transmissions from an alien life form) that has since died long ago.
2006-06-14 17:02:17 · answer #1 · answered by mrjeffy321 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
That is true that looking at far away stars is essentially equivalent to looking back in time. It is actually theoretically plausible that were there intelligent life somewhere in the universe, potentially millions or even billions of light years away, they could emit electromagnetic signals of some form that would reach us millions or even billions of years after that species went extinct. It is also the case that electromagnetic radiation we emit now, particularly radio waves, could be detected by a distant civiliation millions of years from now.
Of course, it's extremely unlikely that any life form would emit light as bright as a star, except in the case of an advanced civiliation doing so as a delibrate signal to other parts of space. But basically the answer is yes, everything you describe is theoretically possible.
Actually, when astronomers observe the birth of a far away star, it might already be dead when they are observing its birth.
2006-06-15 00:16:18 · answer #2 · answered by EmilyRose 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. Everything we see from space is as old as the light it took to get here. Even if we had a powerful enough telescope that could see the surface of one of those stars, we would still be seeing that star as it was however millions of light years it took the light to get here, because telescopes don't magnfiy or get you closer to something, they only make more efficient use of the light that is out there to make a sharp image.
2006-06-15 00:45:55 · answer #3 · answered by phyziczteacher 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You would think, but I doubt it. It might take a long *** while for us to see something that's just barely happening, but I think if a star winks out you'd find out right at the moment. Think about it like gravity. If the Sun just crapped out and stopped working on us (not like an explosion, just dead) would it take us 8 minutes to figure it out? Like a rope that spans the light years, the moment the star needs to pull it back it can and does. It's that electromagnetic force, it works in mysterious ways.
2006-06-15 00:12:34 · answer #4 · answered by Tony, ya feel me? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
while we can watch events that have taken place "our" past, there is nothing we can do to change them. The physical gas of an exploding star, no matter how near, would be dispersed long before we see the light.
Similarly, even if we were to see aliens coming towards us, it would take a very long time for them to reach us from other stars.
2006-06-15 00:15:12 · answer #5 · answered by Dr. Now 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The speed of light is a finite one, actually an exact 299792458 ms^-1. So everything we observe, has occured before a finite period of time. All the things we observe, even on our planet, however close to us, we observe them after they have occured before a finite period of time. For example, if u r wathing an occurance 1 m away from urself, then it has occured approx. 3 nanoseconds before u obresved it. Got it now?
Bye.
2006-06-15 02:43:40 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It would have to be a very big form of life ( large sun-size) to give off a light the can be seen from a stellar distance.
2006-06-15 00:05:19 · answer #7 · answered by captaim49 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is correct. Distance, speed traveling, and the bending of light do to objects own mass all determine everything you see in the sky.
2006-06-21 15:38:03 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. Astronomers use that fact to figure out what the universe was like millions and billions of years ago by looking farther and farther away.
2006-06-15 00:00:13 · answer #9 · answered by David F 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
um, yes
2006-06-14 23:59:30 · answer #10 · answered by bichtressherri 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋