If you went to a galaxy far far away...?

Question

Like, on some planet, millions of billions of light-years away, and somehow (impossible yes I know) you had a telescope that was so powerfull that you could see planet earth and everything on it, would you see dinosaurs? because surely the light from our planet would take billions of years to travel that far away?

If this techknology worked and people managed to develope it couldn't it be used to solve crimes?

This is all assuming that you had some sort of machine that could take you there instantly.

Answer 1

Well..... yes we can see our past if we consider all ur assumptions.
Solve crimes? oh yes may be if u can travel to & fro really really fast.
By the by nice thought pal...

Answer 2

That is generally true. If there are aliens sat somewhere near Alpha Centuri with an impossibly large telescope watching the Earth then they would be seeing us as we were four years ago, as that is how long the light would take to travel between the two.

Therefore, if you stood on a planet 65 million light years away and looked at the Earth, you would indeed see life as it was 65 million years ago, dinosaurs and all.

The theory works the other way around as well - when we look at a distant star system from the Earth we are seeing it as it existed then many years ago (the light having only just reached us after travelling many years, decades, centuries or even millenia), and not as it is now in this space-time continuum.

A very funny business this 'light speed' thing.

Answer 3

Places even 60 million light years away will just be getting pictures of the last dinosaurs. A telescope that can track that well is an impossibility anyway. And it would take you more than 60 million years to get there so you would be at least 60 million years too late.

Answer 4

well it depends, if u are dumb enough to travel to other star in a ship that can travel at speed of light, you will see with the telescope the moment that u take off. but if u are a smart dude and u know that the travel will take a long time, some thing around a billion years, u will build a ship that could travel faster than light, maybe a worm hole device, and u travel instantly you could see, depending in the amount of time u travel dinosaurs and even the creation of earth.

Answer 5

if you could be telported to that planet in an instant then yes eventually you would see dinosaurs however if the plannet was really millions of billions of light years away you would have to wait millions of billions of years before those images reached you it would be better if you went to a planet only say 3 million light years away, then you´d only have to wait a million years or so.

Answer 6

assuming you're instantly transported to that remote place, millions of billions of light years away earth would not even exist yet, probably a much nearer estimate of 225 million light years away, you'll see the first dinosaurs

Answer 7

Yes. You would see Earth as it was a billion years ago from a distance of a billion light years.

Answer 8

Well so long as you travelled faster than light - yes.

More - if you are travelling there instantly, you wouldn't need to travel billions of light years. Only 60 or so million.

Answer 9

By your own description I will not return. Yes their is a possibility that the dinosaurs playing on earth may be traveling. but stop does reflective light carry picture of reflecting surface I think No. Even if you travel faster than light to capture one you may not see dinosaurs playing on mother earth. Isn't it sorry, I may pour water on your imagination.

Answer 10

Why go all that way to look back at our planets past when you could if you had the technology look at another planet and see if life evolves in the same way as it has here.