Is it true now that Astronauts can see millions of years back in time while in space like the Big Bang theory?? I had heard on television that it is true and that you can see different periods of time..
Has anyone out there heard the same??
2007-01-16 14:04:59 · 6 answers · asked by Michael P 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Is it true now that Astronauts can see millions of years back in time while in space like the Big Bang theory?? I had heard on television that it is true and that you can see different periods of time..
Has anyone out there heard the same??
I had heard it on the History Channel that they can see 10.5 billion years in the past... Now this baffles me why is it told now and such a mystery??
2007-01-16 14:19:09 · update #1
Which TV channel? Cartoon Network?
2007-01-16 14:10:20 · answer #1 · answered by Sean D 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You have misunderstood something in all this.
1--You don't have to leave the earth's surface to be able to "see millions of years into the past." Any time you look up at the stars you are seeing objects as they appeared long ago, because of the time it takes for the light from those distant stars to reach your eyes.
There is a limit to the meaningfulness of that concept, as it can also be said that the image of a distant star that you see--in fact, the image of the whole night sky--exists only in the present moment. So choose your magic.
2--There is nothing magical about being an astronaut or being outside the atmosphere that makes it possible to see things differently. What you see out the window of the Space Shuttle is the same as what you see out the window of an airliner. Just higher.
2007-01-17 00:40:35 · answer #2 · answered by aviophage 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You yourself can easily see the Andromeda Galaxy with the naked eye from the ground. It is two million light years away, so you are actually looking back two million years in time when you see it.
When you look at the sun, you are looking back eight minutes in time
I think you may be referring to space-based telescopes such as the Hubble. Without the earth's atmosphere in the way, they have much better vision and can see fainter and fainter (and thus further away) objects. In fact, they can see billions of years back in time in this way.
It's hard to know what this really means. However, if a civilization on a remote planet had a good enough telescope, they could see dinosaurs roaming the earth, or (if they weren't so far away) the twin towers still standing. Kinda gives you the chills, eh? It does me.
2007-01-16 22:24:16 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
When we look at a star or any other object in space we are traveling back in time. This is because light travels at a constant speed in space. It travels at around 220,000 feet per second. We measure distance in space in light years. This is the distance that light travels in one year. So if a star is 1000 light years away the light you are seeing was made 1000 years ago so you are looking back in time 1000 years. The Andromeda Galaxy is a distance of 2,200,000 light years away so when you look at it you are seeing it as it was 2,200,000 years ago when the dinosaurs roamed the earth.
2007-01-16 23:52:01 · answer #4 · answered by Harold 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes.
If you take a powerful telescope and look into space you will "see the past" This is because light hasn't reached there yet and whatever was there in the past can be seen. I heard that from basically all of my science teachers.
2007-01-16 22:14:25 · answer #5 · answered by B-B@!! P!@Y@ 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They see pretty much see what we can see from the earth's surface. They aren't that far up.
2007-01-16 22:10:01 · answer #6 · answered by Michael da Man 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋