Shouldn't light from the early universe have already passed us by eons ago?

Question

If the universe is ~13 billion years old, how can we on earth be seing light that was generated 10+ billion years ago. Shouldn't that light have passed earths position billions of years ago?

OK, but ~10 Billion years ago all matter was in one spot. so light generated ~9 billion years ago would have been in a universe AT MOST 1 billion light years wide (if all matter was travelling at the speed of light). But the matter from the big bang cant travel at the speed of light (at least not for long) so light from that long ago should have passed the matter that earth was later made from billions of years ago...... right?

I guess what I'm saying is that ~15 billion years ago the universe was not 15billion light years wide (in fact it was maybe only millimeters wide). So unless the universe is expanding at near the speed of light how is it that light generated 15 billion years ago is just now reaching us.

Answer 1

we observe the earliest light observable. it comes from when the universe was about 380 000 years old when it had cooled enough for electrons and atomic nuclei to combine and form atoms. we see this light stretched to microwave wavelengths. we observe it in every direction we look. it is called the cosmic microwave background.

look here:
http://universeadventure.org/universe_chapterexpan.html
http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_uni.html

Answer 2

The universe is so huge and vast that light can take billions of years to travel across space and be seen by us on earth. Many of the stars we see at night have burnt out thousands, maybe millions of years ago.

As of this moment, with the best telescopes, astronomers can see faint objects that are 15 billion light years or more away. The speed of light is approximately 186,000 mile per second. Yet this light has been traveling towards us for 15 billion years before we can observe it. I think your estimate for the age of the universe should be a bit older.

Answer 3

well

light that was generated 10 billion years ago, at a distance 10 billion light-years away, is passing us right now

of course, those light sources continued to emit light and continue to do so therefore we will continue to see that light passing us

if one of the sources stopped emitting light some time ago, we will know it when the last photo goes buy and that source is dark to us

the math is pretty simple

light goes at the speed of light
astronomical distances are measured in the linear unit "light year"

so, if I am 1 light year away from you, and our velocity, relative to each other is zero, and I emit a light toward you, you will see it a year later

Answer 4

It probably did, if we assume we are not traveling at a speed close to light away from the source.

If we travel at speed significantly lower then the speed of light, light from the early universe should indeed already have passed us.

Answer 5

the universe is so vast (no one can be sure of the exact measurement of the observable universe yet although there have been some numbers thrown around) that it would take billions of years for that light to reach here now.

Answer 6

cosmic background radiation is the left over light of the big bang and it is everywhere!!!!!!!!!!

what is matter???? slow energy M= e/c squared

so all the matter in the universe is all the light of the big bang turned to matter.

Answer 7

yes