Hypothetically, If we could send a giant mirror 10 light years into space and looked at its reflection with a powerful telescope, assuming all the technology was there to accomplish this, would we be able to view Earth 20 years into the past?
2007-03-12 08:18:16 · 10 answers · asked by kobobot 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
That is exactly what you would be doing.
Make simpler,put the mirror 10 feet away,you are too close to notice but your image lags by the time it takes for light to travel 20 feet.
Every entity in the universe is isolated in time by this scenario.
2007-03-13 01:47:59 · answer #1 · answered by Billy Butthead 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, except that it would take much longer than 20 years to get it into position, so any hope you had of seeing your past would be long past.
Another problem is the size. Just how big do you want this mirror to be? There are several bright local stars that are 15 light years away, and the closest, Alpha Centauri, is 4 light years, but they all look like dimensionless points of light. You would need a mirror many times the diameter of a star.
And finally, there's the distance. Aside from light patterns at night, there is very little human detail that can be made out on Earth from Earth orbit, only 100 miles away! What will you see of something 1/100th as wide as the Sun, from 20 light years away? How will you make it out against the glare of its own Sun?
So, by "yes", I mean "not really".
2007-03-12 08:31:25 · answer #2 · answered by skepsis 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why not. It would be like getting a radio signal from the past that hit something out there and returned to earth decades later. It happened.
2007-03-12 08:23:55 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2016-12-01 21:35:23 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's neat, I guess in theory you would, that's crazy.
Though you'd only be able to see the light emitted, you'd need one hell of a mirror.
2007-03-12 08:28:57 · answer #5 · answered by Luis 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
that would work but the mirror would have to be very very big. It would cost way to much money. but other then that it is extremly possible.
2007-03-12 10:15:43 · answer #6 · answered by Mr. Smith 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pretty much, that's how it would work.
Although I can't say I'm sure why anyone would want to do that.
2007-03-12 08:24:16 · answer #7 · answered by Terras 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's is not possible,why would you want to do that it makes no sense.
2007-03-12 08:28:17 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
yep
I asked this same question
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ao4BiXDwzwPf3fWd8DqsueTsy6IX?qid=20070213133205AA4LZCb
2007-03-12 08:23:07 · answer #9 · answered by E 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no
2007-03-12 08:24:37 · answer #10 · answered by brandon p 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋