Looking Into Space Is Looking Back In Time | TNTM

Looking out into space is the same as looking back in time. But what does that mean, scientifically speaking?

It turns out that astronomers can observe stars and planets as they were in the past since it takes light quite some time to travel from those distant celestial objects all the way to Earth -- and the farther an object is, the longer it takes for the light to reach us. HuffPost Science's Jacqueline Howard reports.

HuffPost Science invites you to going the discussion with top scientists covering the latest news in spaceflight, brain/body research, evolution, and the influence of science on culture.

[naevis_ow]

Yes this is very true. This is what it says on Google, because of the finite speed of light, when you gaze up into the night sky, you are looking into the past. The bright star Sirius is 8.6 light years away. That means the light hitting your eye tonight has been traveling for 8.6 years. Put another way: When you look at Sirius tonight, you see it as it was 8.6 years ago.

[spacextreme]

2018 Launch date for the Webb lol I'm crying

[Pudentame]

So does that mean that Alpha Centauri is getting more light years away or that the size of light years is growing apace with the expansion of the universe?