if you're looking at a planet 100 light years away...are you seeing the planet 100 light years ago because it take light 100 light years to travel to your eyes
2007-06-12 05:40:57 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Not really. You're confusing terms here.
You're seeing it as an image. That image was created 100 years ago. It took the image 100 years to travel to your eyes.
Light years is a measure of distance, not time. A light year is the distance light travels in one year.
2007-06-12 05:45:49 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
Yes. You are seeing the light that the planet let off 100 years ago. It takes the light 100 years to travel to Earth.
2007-06-12 05:50:06 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The only thing wrong with your question is that you're seeing the planet as it was 100 years ago, not 100 light years ago. A light year is a distance, not time. That would be like saying you say it 2,000 miles ago.
Other than that, you are correct. If an alien destroyed it tomorrow, you would not know about it for 100 years.
2007-06-12 05:50:36 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The seemingly obvious answer to your very good question is that, yes, we would be seeing the planet as it was 100 years before we made the observation. Now, your question raises some interesting questions of its own. Is it that simple, are we sure that we're seeing that planet as it "was" 100 years ago? Einstein's Special Relativity clearly shows that light energy travels at 670 million miles/hour (186,000 miles/second). But what about "information" contained in that light? And, Special Relativity suggest that light travels at a constant speed without any reference point and without a medium to carry it. So, if we are looking at this planet that is 100 light-years away, in what reference frame are we seeing it, ours, or the planet's own frame of reference? If light travels without a medium or point of reference, how do we know that we are truly seeing distant objects in a time-based linear fashion? Are the two points of reference the same or different? Is the information contained in the light beam coming from the planet old information, new information, or some combination of both? I have asked these questions only to give you some additional things to think about and, to suggest that just because something is declared as true and seems logical, givern the strange nature of quantum effects, reality must always be questioned and put to the test, in my opinion.
2007-06-12 08:44:53 · answer #4 · answered by Bob D1 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You're seeing it as it was 100 years ago. But not "100 light years ago" because a light year is a unit of distance not a unit of time.
2007-06-12 05:50:11 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
ya right. Light takes 100 years to travel 100 light years, so you see the star now as it was in 1907
2007-06-12 05:48:43 · answer #6 · answered by astrokid 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, that's exactly how it works. Just like when someone bounces a ball 100 yards away from you, it takes some time for the sound to reach your ears, so you're hearing it as it was when it hit the ground, even though it actuality it's already hit the ground and is traveling back upwards (as you can see clearly with your eyes).
2007-06-12 05:42:50 · answer #7 · answered by 006 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I believe you would be seeing the light reflected off of it 100 years ago. SO someone/thing looking at earth from 100 light years away would be seeing 1907.
2007-06-12 05:44:35 · answer #8 · answered by ellusionary 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Yes and No, language wise, but 100 years ahead will make 200 years to reach the away, the ago, the future, the ahead. :)
2007-06-12 05:50:40 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes
It takes 100 years because speed of light is not increase or decrease so it takes 100 years
2007-06-12 05:55:46 · answer #10 · answered by Haresh Kalsara 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋