• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Universe / Can You See into the Past?

Can You See into the Past?

July 9, 2020 by Karen Hill

It may sound impossible, but it’s easy. You look into the past every night when you see the stars!

We measure the distance between stars in light- years. A light-year is the distance that light travels in one year, about six trillion miles!

When you look at a star that is ten light-years away, you’re really seeing light that left the star ten years ago, and has been traveling through space since then. That means that you’re actually looking at the star as it was ten years ago.

Astronomers have found stars that are eight billion light-years away. If you were to look at these distant stars, you would be looking far into the past, long before the earth existed.

In fact, some of the stars you look at tonight may not even exist anymore!

Related Facts

  • How do astronomers know how far away stars and galaxies are from earth?
  • Top 25 Inventions That Changed the World
  • The Best 20 Inventions Ever Invented
  • Top 25 Inventions That Changed Our Lives Forever
  • How do Astronomers know that the universe is expanding by studying light waves?
  • 15 Inventions You Wish You Invented

Filed Under: Universe

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Is the Planet Mercury Always Hot?
Next Post: Is Venus Warmer Than the Earth? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2020 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy