is it true that most of the stars that we see no longer exist? what we are actually seeing are dead stars but due to them being so far away we are still seeing the light.
2006-12-03 09:12:30 · 10 answers · asked by dobbie 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Well all the stars we see are going to be nearby so, most of them probably still exist. If they are... say 500 lightyears away, then it will take 500 years for the light to reach us. A star could explode or go nova within that time, but since most stars live billions of years, it is pretty unlikely. Now if you are looking at some deep space objects like a galaxy, then those might be millions of lightyears away and some of the stars from that galaxy could be dead now.
2006-12-03 09:16:47 · answer #1 · answered by Roman Soldier 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Most of the stars you can see with the naked eye still exist. The night sky is history because light travels at 299792458 metres per second. Even the closest star, apart from the Sun, is over 4 years away at the speed of light. The Sun itself is 500 seconds away at the speed of light. The further you look the more likely it is that the star you are looking at no longer exists, but even then there is no certainty.
2006-12-03 23:20:04 · answer #2 · answered by djoldgeezer 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
On a clear, dark night far away from city lights, one can see about 2500 stars with the unaided eye, with over 8000 total able to be seen worldwide—an insignificant fraction of the number that actually exist, so yes most of the stars we can see no longer exist.
2006-12-03 09:16:56 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
its a possibiliy they don't exist: we only see things becuase of light and even though we think it can travel any distance in nanoseconds, it's false. The only reason we can see the stars is becuase of the light coming from them to us, but the distance is so far that it takes light many many years to reach our eyes. so if a star were to explode, the light reflecting the explosion would taking hundreds or thousands of years to reach us. (stars life time is quite long though)
How do i know this-->no idea
2006-12-03 12:13:48 · answer #4 · answered by clivenna 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is true in most cases. Obviously there are stars that still exist we can see. (far out stars)
2006-12-03 10:17:04 · answer #5 · answered by Shifter 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes some of the stars we see have been dead sense the 2ND ice age maybe longer light can travel forever until its shadowed.
2006-12-03 10:10:34 · answer #6 · answered by DonaldM 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
there is no way of knowing if they are still there as it would take thousands of years to reach them by which time they may not exist. but there is no reason to suppose they are gone, they may ave moved though with the expansion of the universe
2006-12-03 09:22:06 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Correct!
2006-12-03 09:15:25 · answer #8 · answered by migdalski 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no you have been given a bum steer
the vast majority do exist still
2006-12-03 09:21:41 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes i have heard thats true?
2006-12-03 09:14:33 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋