Can I see a galaxy 10K light-years away with a telescope as it is now or would I be seeing it as it once was?

Answer 1

As it once was, 10K years ago...before you were born.

By the way, the Milky Way, our galaxy, is about 50,000 LY in radius. So the likelihood of seeing another galaxy inside the radius of our own is pretty slim. The Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical galaxy (SagDEG) is about 80,000ly from our Sun, which is located about 25K ly from the center of the Milky Way.

The ellipitical galaxy is one of the closest to our galaxy. What makes it interesting is that it is actually a satellite of our Milky Way. That is, it is gravitationally attached to our galaxy like the Moon is attached to the Earth by gravity.

For comparison, the edge of our known universe is about 15 billion ly away. As Dr. Elway in "Contact," said, "The universe is an awful lot of space to waste" when asked if there might be other intelligent life out there.

Answer 2

First - Isabela, Andromeda galaxy is MILLIONS of light yrs away, so seeing something 10K ly away is easy. We can even see Quasars that are Billions of LY away!

As for the question, to get technical, you ALWAYS see EVERYTHING as it WAS. Evan the person down the hall has moved some before the light from them reaches your eyes. So of course, stars & galaxies & nebulea are ALL as they WERE when the light left them.

It was Edgar Allen Poe that first published the correct answer to why the night sky is not entirely white with stars --- "because some have not been born, and some have long since died, there is blackness in the sky" [my poetry, not his]

Answer 3

You will see it as it once was many years ago. Because we see the light from the galaxy in the time it took for the light to reach us (10k light-years). Therefore, we don't know what it looks like today, it could have exploded, or been sucked up by a black hole... we wouldn't know for another 10k light-years... which is a long time.

We wouldn't know because the light (or lack thereof) hasn't shown yet, because we are still seeing light from the past.

Very confusing, interestin stuff

Answer 4

You would just be seeing a light form that looked a certain way as long ago as it took for the light to reach your telescope. . .and there's hardly the chance you could even see such a thing with a normal telescope from your deck or porch. Even astronomists have trouble seeing galaxies 10K light-years away. . .actually you can't see another galaxy. . .or at least from your house. Andromeda is the closest one to the Milky Way. . .and it's FAAARR away!

Answer 5

You sorta answered your own question, there.

A light year is the measure of distance it takes light to travel in a year. If it's 10,000 light years away, that means the light that's being funneled into your telescope had to make a 10,000 year trip to get to you. So the image is a collection of the light that took 10,000 years to get to you.

Answer 6

as it once was 10K Light Years Ago.

Answer 7

Astronomers often describe looking at distant objects as looking into the past (and 10k is not all that distant).

Answer 8

no you would be seeing it as it was 10,000 years ago because of the time it takes for the light of the galaxy to reach earth..Yes said galaxy would be projected as it was 10,000 years ago

Answer 9

its a 10,000 year old time machine. Thats what it looked like when humans still walked on all fours. The planet could be an entire civilization and u wouldn't know it.

Answer 10

due to the speed of light and other such scientifical things, IF you could see it, you would be seeing it "in the past".