Can we track matter through time by looking at different depths in space?
$begingroup$
If we look back far enough we can see all the origins of the universe, so is it possible, even if not feasible, that we could trace the history of some matter as it moves through space-time? I want to understand how looking at different depths in space and time are correlated in regards to the matter being observed.
For example would it be possible to look deep into a certain part of space and time to find some galaxy that contributed to the matter that makes up the Milky Way today? Then somehow follow it through space-time by looking at different depths and locations in space, and see how it came to be part of the Milky Way?
space-time cosmic-microwave-background
asked 8 hours ago
dmoody256dmoody256
234
New contributor
dmoody256 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
If we look back far enough we can see all the origins of the universe, so is it possible, even if not feasible, that we could trace the history of some matter as it moves through space-time? I want to understand how looking at different depths in space and time are correlated in regards to the matter being observed.
For example would it be possible to look deep into a certain part of space and time to find some galaxy that contributed to the matter that makes up the Milky Way today? Then somehow follow it through space-time by looking at different depths and locations in space, and see how it came to be part of the Milky Way?
space-time cosmic-microwave-background
asked 8 hours ago
dmoody256dmoody256
234
New contributor
dmoody256 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
If we look back far enough we can see all the origins of the universe, so is it possible, even if not feasible, that we could trace the history of some matter as it moves through space-time? I want to understand how looking at different depths in space and time are correlated in regards to the matter being observed.
For example would it be possible to look deep into a certain part of space and time to find some galaxy that contributed to the matter that makes up the Milky Way today? Then somehow follow it through space-time by looking at different depths and locations in space, and see how it came to be part of the Milky Way?
space-time cosmic-microwave-background
asked 8 hours ago
dmoody256dmoody256
234
New contributor
dmoody256 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
If we look back far enough we can see all the origins of the universe, so is it possible, even if not feasible, that we could trace the history of some matter as it moves through space-time? I want to understand how looking at different depths in space and time are correlated in regards to the matter being observed.
For example would it be possible to look deep into a certain part of space and time to find some galaxy that contributed to the matter that makes up the Milky Way today? Then somehow follow it through space-time by looking at different depths and locations in space, and see how it came to be part of the Milky Way?
space-time cosmic-microwave-background
space-time cosmic-microwave-background
asked 8 hours ago
dmoody256dmoody256
234
New contributor
dmoody256 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 8 hours ago
dmoody256dmoody256
234
New contributor
dmoody256 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 8 hours ago
dmoody256dmoody256
234
New contributor
dmoody256 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 8 hours ago
dmoody256dmoody256
234
asked 8 hours ago
dmoody256dmoody256
234
234
New contributor
dmoody256 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
dmoody256 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
dmoody256 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
Would it be possible to look deep into a certain part of space and
time to find some galaxy that contributed to the matter that makes up
the Milky Way today?
No, that's not possible. If we could do that, it'd mean that the matter traveled from there to here faster than its light got here, and matter can't travel faster through space than light does.
All we can do is look at similar galaxies to the Milky Way at earlier times. And because of the expansion of space those galaxies are now even further away from us than they were when they emitted the light that we're seeing now.
Galaxies develop (mostly) in isolation from one another, apart from the occasional merger or collision between neighbouring galaxies. Intergalactic distances are fairly huge, so it takes vast amounts of time for matter to travel from one galaxy to another, and matter is mostly bound by gravity to the galaxy it's in. Galactic escape speeds are pretty high, although the occasional star does get flung out of the galaxy by cataclysmic events like supernova explosions. But even then, such rogue bodies mostly end up in intergalactic space. The odds of them ending up in a different galaxy are pretty slim.
answered 7 hours ago
PM 2RingPM 2Ring
943410
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
Milky Way was one example, but my question is more generally, what about other matter? Could we track the formation of a given galaxy through time by looking at different spots and depths in space? And regards to your answer of No for the Milky Way, can we not see the origin of all matter in the CMB, including the matter (or maybe energy) that our Milky Way originated from?
$endgroup$
– dmoody256
7 hours ago
2
$begingroup$
It's the same answer-- you are asking if light from the same object emitted at two different times for that object can be seen by us at the same time. That would require that the object move with its light, i.e., move as fast as the speed of light. Instead, if we watch for ten years, all we can see is the life of that object for a similar timeframe. In fact, objects in the past look like time is going by slowly for them, so you'd end up seeing less than ten years in the life of the object.
$endgroup$
– Ken G
6 hours ago
$begingroup$
@dmoody256 What Ken G said. The CMB shows us what the universe looked like 13 billion years ago, but it doesn't show us the ancient history of right here, it shows us the similar ancient history of places that are now 46 billion lightyears away from the Milky Way.
$endgroup$
– PM 2Ring
6 hours ago
$begingroup$
@dmoody256 I think the confusion arises because the more distant something is, the older the light we receive from it. But we only receive the light from an object once, not as a series of snapshots over time and distance. The CMB, for example, was emitted from matter 13.8b years ago, but we can’t see that same matter at an earlier or later time - that would mean there are multiple copies of the same matter or that the matter moves around the Universe faster than light. The matter in our galaxy doesn’t also exist somewhere else at an earlier time.
$endgroup$
– Chappo
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
@Chappo I was under the assumption that the CMB we see today was all matter/energy shortly after the Bing Bang. So therefore we could see the same matter at that time and now when you look out at the Milky Way, and other depths of space. I'm thinking my assumption about CMB being all encompassing was wrong, but I'm looking into it a bit more.
$endgroup$
– dmoody256
3 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
You would have to catch up to the light that carries the information you seek. It's traveled for a few billion years at this point (Earth is ~4.3B). So, you could watch the formation of Earth (Milky Way, whatever), if you could instantly teleport billions of light years away from here.
When we watch distant galaxies and starts, what we're seeing is "old" light. The events that we see occurred many years ago. If we see a galaxy forming, and that galaxy is 10 billion light years away, then that galaxy has already formed. Its configuration at this time is very different from what we see. In fact, some of its stars have already burned out. Similarly, if you lived in (or could instantly teleport to) that galaxy, you would see the Milky Way as it appeared 10B year ago.
answered 3 hours ago
TimTim
1
New contributor
Tim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
});
});
}, "mathjax-editing");
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "514"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
dmoody256 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fastronomy.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f29937%2fcan-we-track-matter-through-time-by-looking-at-different-depths-in-space%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
Would it be possible to look deep into a certain part of space and
time to find some galaxy that contributed to the matter that makes up
the Milky Way today?
No, that's not possible. If we could do that, it'd mean that the matter traveled from there to here faster than its light got here, and matter can't travel faster through space than light does.
All we can do is look at similar galaxies to the Milky Way at earlier times. And because of the expansion of space those galaxies are now even further away from us than they were when they emitted the light that we're seeing now.
Galaxies develop (mostly) in isolation from one another, apart from the occasional merger or collision between neighbouring galaxies. Intergalactic distances are fairly huge, so it takes vast amounts of time for matter to travel from one galaxy to another, and matter is mostly bound by gravity to the galaxy it's in. Galactic escape speeds are pretty high, although the occasional star does get flung out of the galaxy by cataclysmic events like supernova explosions. But even then, such rogue bodies mostly end up in intergalactic space. The odds of them ending up in a different galaxy are pretty slim.
answered 7 hours ago
PM 2RingPM 2Ring
943410
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
Milky Way was one example, but my question is more generally, what about other matter? Could we track the formation of a given galaxy through time by looking at different spots and depths in space? And regards to your answer of No for the Milky Way, can we not see the origin of all matter in the CMB, including the matter (or maybe energy) that our Milky Way originated from?
$endgroup$
– dmoody256
7 hours ago
2
$begingroup$
It's the same answer-- you are asking if light from the same object emitted at two different times for that object can be seen by us at the same time. That would require that the object move with its light, i.e., move as fast as the speed of light. Instead, if we watch for ten years, all we can see is the life of that object for a similar timeframe. In fact, objects in the past look like time is going by slowly for them, so you'd end up seeing less than ten years in the life of the object.
$endgroup$
– Ken G
6 hours ago
$begingroup$
@dmoody256 What Ken G said. The CMB shows us what the universe looked like 13 billion years ago, but it doesn't show us the ancient history of right here, it shows us the similar ancient history of places that are now 46 billion lightyears away from the Milky Way.
$endgroup$
– PM 2Ring
6 hours ago
$begingroup$
@dmoody256 I think the confusion arises because the more distant something is, the older the light we receive from it. But we only receive the light from an object once, not as a series of snapshots over time and distance. The CMB, for example, was emitted from matter 13.8b years ago, but we can’t see that same matter at an earlier or later time - that would mean there are multiple copies of the same matter or that the matter moves around the Universe faster than light. The matter in our galaxy doesn’t also exist somewhere else at an earlier time.
$endgroup$
– Chappo
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
@Chappo I was under the assumption that the CMB we see today was all matter/energy shortly after the Bing Bang. So therefore we could see the same matter at that time and now when you look out at the Milky Way, and other depths of space. I'm thinking my assumption about CMB being all encompassing was wrong, but I'm looking into it a bit more.
$endgroup$
– dmoody256
3 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Would it be possible to look deep into a certain part of space and
time to find some galaxy that contributed to the matter that makes up
the Milky Way today?
No, that's not possible. If we could do that, it'd mean that the matter traveled from there to here faster than its light got here, and matter can't travel faster through space than light does.
All we can do is look at similar galaxies to the Milky Way at earlier times. And because of the expansion of space those galaxies are now even further away from us than they were when they emitted the light that we're seeing now.
Galaxies develop (mostly) in isolation from one another, apart from the occasional merger or collision between neighbouring galaxies. Intergalactic distances are fairly huge, so it takes vast amounts of time for matter to travel from one galaxy to another, and matter is mostly bound by gravity to the galaxy it's in. Galactic escape speeds are pretty high, although the occasional star does get flung out of the galaxy by cataclysmic events like supernova explosions. But even then, such rogue bodies mostly end up in intergalactic space. The odds of them ending up in a different galaxy are pretty slim.
answered 7 hours ago
PM 2RingPM 2Ring
943410
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
Milky Way was one example, but my question is more generally, what about other matter? Could we track the formation of a given galaxy through time by looking at different spots and depths in space? And regards to your answer of No for the Milky Way, can we not see the origin of all matter in the CMB, including the matter (or maybe energy) that our Milky Way originated from?
$endgroup$
– dmoody256
7 hours ago
2
$begingroup$
It's the same answer-- you are asking if light from the same object emitted at two different times for that object can be seen by us at the same time. That would require that the object move with its light, i.e., move as fast as the speed of light. Instead, if we watch for ten years, all we can see is the life of that object for a similar timeframe. In fact, objects in the past look like time is going by slowly for them, so you'd end up seeing less than ten years in the life of the object.
$endgroup$
– Ken G
6 hours ago
$begingroup$
@dmoody256 What Ken G said. The CMB shows us what the universe looked like 13 billion years ago, but it doesn't show us the ancient history of right here, it shows us the similar ancient history of places that are now 46 billion lightyears away from the Milky Way.
$endgroup$
– PM 2Ring
6 hours ago
$begingroup$
@dmoody256 I think the confusion arises because the more distant something is, the older the light we receive from it. But we only receive the light from an object once, not as a series of snapshots over time and distance. The CMB, for example, was emitted from matter 13.8b years ago, but we can’t see that same matter at an earlier or later time - that would mean there are multiple copies of the same matter or that the matter moves around the Universe faster than light. The matter in our galaxy doesn’t also exist somewhere else at an earlier time.
$endgroup$
– Chappo
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
@Chappo I was under the assumption that the CMB we see today was all matter/energy shortly after the Bing Bang. So therefore we could see the same matter at that time and now when you look out at the Milky Way, and other depths of space. I'm thinking my assumption about CMB being all encompassing was wrong, but I'm looking into it a bit more.
$endgroup$
– dmoody256
3 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Would it be possible to look deep into a certain part of space and
time to find some galaxy that contributed to the matter that makes up
the Milky Way today?
No, that's not possible. If we could do that, it'd mean that the matter traveled from there to here faster than its light got here, and matter can't travel faster through space than light does.
All we can do is look at similar galaxies to the Milky Way at earlier times. And because of the expansion of space those galaxies are now even further away from us than they were when they emitted the light that we're seeing now.
Galaxies develop (mostly) in isolation from one another, apart from the occasional merger or collision between neighbouring galaxies. Intergalactic distances are fairly huge, so it takes vast amounts of time for matter to travel from one galaxy to another, and matter is mostly bound by gravity to the galaxy it's in. Galactic escape speeds are pretty high, although the occasional star does get flung out of the galaxy by cataclysmic events like supernova explosions. But even then, such rogue bodies mostly end up in intergalactic space. The odds of them ending up in a different galaxy are pretty slim.
answered 7 hours ago
PM 2RingPM 2Ring
943410
$endgroup$
Would it be possible to look deep into a certain part of space and
time to find some galaxy that contributed to the matter that makes up
the Milky Way today?
No, that's not possible. If we could do that, it'd mean that the matter traveled from there to here faster than its light got here, and matter can't travel faster through space than light does.
All we can do is look at similar galaxies to the Milky Way at earlier times. And because of the expansion of space those galaxies are now even further away from us than they were when they emitted the light that we're seeing now.
Galaxies develop (mostly) in isolation from one another, apart from the occasional merger or collision between neighbouring galaxies. Intergalactic distances are fairly huge, so it takes vast amounts of time for matter to travel from one galaxy to another, and matter is mostly bound by gravity to the galaxy it's in. Galactic escape speeds are pretty high, although the occasional star does get flung out of the galaxy by cataclysmic events like supernova explosions. But even then, such rogue bodies mostly end up in intergalactic space. The odds of them ending up in a different galaxy are pretty slim.
answered 7 hours ago
PM 2RingPM 2Ring
943410
edited 7 hours ago
answered 7 hours ago
PM 2RingPM 2Ring
943410
answered 7 hours ago
PM 2RingPM 2Ring
943410
answered 7 hours ago
PM 2RingPM 2Ring
943410
943410
1
$begingroup$
Milky Way was one example, but my question is more generally, what about other matter? Could we track the formation of a given galaxy through time by looking at different spots and depths in space? And regards to your answer of No for the Milky Way, can we not see the origin of all matter in the CMB, including the matter (or maybe energy) that our Milky Way originated from?
$endgroup$
– dmoody256
7 hours ago
2
$begingroup$
It's the same answer-- you are asking if light from the same object emitted at two different times for that object can be seen by us at the same time. That would require that the object move with its light, i.e., move as fast as the speed of light. Instead, if we watch for ten years, all we can see is the life of that object for a similar timeframe. In fact, objects in the past look like time is going by slowly for them, so you'd end up seeing less than ten years in the life of the object.
$endgroup$
– Ken G
6 hours ago
$begingroup$
@dmoody256 What Ken G said. The CMB shows us what the universe looked like 13 billion years ago, but it doesn't show us the ancient history of right here, it shows us the similar ancient history of places that are now 46 billion lightyears away from the Milky Way.
$endgroup$
– PM 2Ring
6 hours ago
$begingroup$
@dmoody256 I think the confusion arises because the more distant something is, the older the light we receive from it. But we only receive the light from an object once, not as a series of snapshots over time and distance. The CMB, for example, was emitted from matter 13.8b years ago, but we can’t see that same matter at an earlier or later time - that would mean there are multiple copies of the same matter or that the matter moves around the Universe faster than light. The matter in our galaxy doesn’t also exist somewhere else at an earlier time.
$endgroup$
– Chappo
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
@Chappo I was under the assumption that the CMB we see today was all matter/energy shortly after the Bing Bang. So therefore we could see the same matter at that time and now when you look out at the Milky Way, and other depths of space. I'm thinking my assumption about CMB being all encompassing was wrong, but I'm looking into it a bit more.
$endgroup$
– dmoody256
3 hours ago
add a comment |
1
$begingroup$
Milky Way was one example, but my question is more generally, what about other matter? Could we track the formation of a given galaxy through time by looking at different spots and depths in space? And regards to your answer of No for the Milky Way, can we not see the origin of all matter in the CMB, including the matter (or maybe energy) that our Milky Way originated from?
$endgroup$
– dmoody256
7 hours ago
2
$begingroup$
It's the same answer-- you are asking if light from the same object emitted at two different times for that object can be seen by us at the same time. That would require that the object move with its light, i.e., move as fast as the speed of light. Instead, if we watch for ten years, all we can see is the life of that object for a similar timeframe. In fact, objects in the past look like time is going by slowly for them, so you'd end up seeing less than ten years in the life of the object.
$endgroup$
– Ken G
6 hours ago
$begingroup$
@dmoody256 What Ken G said. The CMB shows us what the universe looked like 13 billion years ago, but it doesn't show us the ancient history of right here, it shows us the similar ancient history of places that are now 46 billion lightyears away from the Milky Way.
$endgroup$
– PM 2Ring
6 hours ago
$begingroup$
@dmoody256 I think the confusion arises because the more distant something is, the older the light we receive from it. But we only receive the light from an object once, not as a series of snapshots over time and distance. The CMB, for example, was emitted from matter 13.8b years ago, but we can’t see that same matter at an earlier or later time - that would mean there are multiple copies of the same matter or that the matter moves around the Universe faster than light. The matter in our galaxy doesn’t also exist somewhere else at an earlier time.
$endgroup$
– Chappo
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
@Chappo I was under the assumption that the CMB we see today was all matter/energy shortly after the Bing Bang. So therefore we could see the same matter at that time and now when you look out at the Milky Way, and other depths of space. I'm thinking my assumption about CMB being all encompassing was wrong, but I'm looking into it a bit more.
$endgroup$
– dmoody256
3 hours ago
1
1
$begingroup$
Milky Way was one example, but my question is more generally, what about other matter? Could we track the formation of a given galaxy through time by looking at different spots and depths in space? And regards to your answer of No for the Milky Way, can we not see the origin of all matter in the CMB, including the matter (or maybe energy) that our Milky Way originated from?
$endgroup$
– dmoody256
7 hours ago
$begingroup$
Milky Way was one example, but my question is more generally, what about other matter? Could we track the formation of a given galaxy through time by looking at different spots and depths in space? And regards to your answer of No for the Milky Way, can we not see the origin of all matter in the CMB, including the matter (or maybe energy) that our Milky Way originated from?
$endgroup$
– dmoody256
7 hours ago
2
2
$begingroup$
It's the same answer-- you are asking if light from the same object emitted at two different times for that object can be seen by us at the same time. That would require that the object move with its light, i.e., move as fast as the speed of light. Instead, if we watch for ten years, all we can see is the life of that object for a similar timeframe. In fact, objects in the past look like time is going by slowly for them, so you'd end up seeing less than ten years in the life of the object.
$endgroup$
– Ken G
6 hours ago
$begingroup$
It's the same answer-- you are asking if light from the same object emitted at two different times for that object can be seen by us at the same time. That would require that the object move with its light, i.e., move as fast as the speed of light. Instead, if we watch for ten years, all we can see is the life of that object for a similar timeframe. In fact, objects in the past look like time is going by slowly for them, so you'd end up seeing less than ten years in the life of the object.
$endgroup$
– Ken G
6 hours ago
$begingroup$
@dmoody256 What Ken G said. The CMB shows us what the universe looked like 13 billion years ago, but it doesn't show us the ancient history of right here, it shows us the similar ancient history of places that are now 46 billion lightyears away from the Milky Way.
$endgroup$
– PM 2Ring
6 hours ago
$begingroup$
@dmoody256 What Ken G said. The CMB shows us what the universe looked like 13 billion years ago, but it doesn't show us the ancient history of right here, it shows us the similar ancient history of places that are now 46 billion lightyears away from the Milky Way.
$endgroup$
– PM 2Ring
6 hours ago
$begingroup$
@dmoody256 I think the confusion arises because the more distant something is, the older the light we receive from it. But we only receive the light from an object once, not as a series of snapshots over time and distance. The CMB, for example, was emitted from matter 13.8b years ago, but we can’t see that same matter at an earlier or later time - that would mean there are multiple copies of the same matter or that the matter moves around the Universe faster than light. The matter in our galaxy doesn’t also exist somewhere else at an earlier time.
$endgroup$
– Chappo
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
@dmoody256 I think the confusion arises because the more distant something is, the older the light we receive from it. But we only receive the light from an object once, not as a series of snapshots over time and distance. The CMB, for example, was emitted from matter 13.8b years ago, but we can’t see that same matter at an earlier or later time - that would mean there are multiple copies of the same matter or that the matter moves around the Universe faster than light. The matter in our galaxy doesn’t also exist somewhere else at an earlier time.
$endgroup$
– Chappo
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
@Chappo I was under the assumption that the CMB we see today was all matter/energy shortly after the Bing Bang. So therefore we could see the same matter at that time and now when you look out at the Milky Way, and other depths of space. I'm thinking my assumption about CMB being all encompassing was wrong, but I'm looking into it a bit more.
$endgroup$
– dmoody256
3 hours ago
$begingroup$
@Chappo I was under the assumption that the CMB we see today was all matter/energy shortly after the Bing Bang. So therefore we could see the same matter at that time and now when you look out at the Milky Way, and other depths of space. I'm thinking my assumption about CMB being all encompassing was wrong, but I'm looking into it a bit more.
$endgroup$
– dmoody256
3 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
You would have to catch up to the light that carries the information you seek. It's traveled for a few billion years at this point (Earth is ~4.3B). So, you could watch the formation of Earth (Milky Way, whatever), if you could instantly teleport billions of light years away from here.
When we watch distant galaxies and starts, what we're seeing is "old" light. The events that we see occurred many years ago. If we see a galaxy forming, and that galaxy is 10 billion light years away, then that galaxy has already formed. Its configuration at this time is very different from what we see. In fact, some of its stars have already burned out. Similarly, if you lived in (or could instantly teleport to) that galaxy, you would see the Milky Way as it appeared 10B year ago.
answered 3 hours ago
TimTim
1
New contributor
Tim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
You would have to catch up to the light that carries the information you seek. It's traveled for a few billion years at this point (Earth is ~4.3B). So, you could watch the formation of Earth (Milky Way, whatever), if you could instantly teleport billions of light years away from here.
When we watch distant galaxies and starts, what we're seeing is "old" light. The events that we see occurred many years ago. If we see a galaxy forming, and that galaxy is 10 billion light years away, then that galaxy has already formed. Its configuration at this time is very different from what we see. In fact, some of its stars have already burned out. Similarly, if you lived in (or could instantly teleport to) that galaxy, you would see the Milky Way as it appeared 10B year ago.
answered 3 hours ago
TimTim
1
New contributor
Tim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
You would have to catch up to the light that carries the information you seek. It's traveled for a few billion years at this point (Earth is ~4.3B). So, you could watch the formation of Earth (Milky Way, whatever), if you could instantly teleport billions of light years away from here.
When we watch distant galaxies and starts, what we're seeing is "old" light. The events that we see occurred many years ago. If we see a galaxy forming, and that galaxy is 10 billion light years away, then that galaxy has already formed. Its configuration at this time is very different from what we see. In fact, some of its stars have already burned out. Similarly, if you lived in (or could instantly teleport to) that galaxy, you would see the Milky Way as it appeared 10B year ago.
answered 3 hours ago
TimTim
1
New contributor
Tim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
You would have to catch up to the light that carries the information you seek. It's traveled for a few billion years at this point (Earth is ~4.3B). So, you could watch the formation of Earth (Milky Way, whatever), if you could instantly teleport billions of light years away from here.
When we watch distant galaxies and starts, what we're seeing is "old" light. The events that we see occurred many years ago. If we see a galaxy forming, and that galaxy is 10 billion light years away, then that galaxy has already formed. Its configuration at this time is very different from what we see. In fact, some of its stars have already burned out. Similarly, if you lived in (or could instantly teleport to) that galaxy, you would see the Milky Way as it appeared 10B year ago.
answered 3 hours ago
TimTim
1
New contributor
Tim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered 3 hours ago
TimTim
1
New contributor
Tim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered 3 hours ago
TimTim
1
answered 3 hours ago
TimTim
1
1
New contributor
Tim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Tim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Tim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
add a comment |
dmoody256 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
dmoody256 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
dmoody256 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
dmoody256 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks for contributing an answer to Astronomy Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fastronomy.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f29937%2fcan-we-track-matter-through-time-by-looking-at-different-depths-in-space%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
