Looking back in time... i don't get it

[pirated]

i always here about how, as our spyglasses get better and better, we're able to look farther back in time, and are getting closer to being able to see what it looked like just after the "big-bang".<br /><br />this just doesn't make sense to me.<br /><br />i understand that the further away an object is the longer it takes for the light of said object to reach earth. and there-fore we're "looking back in time", and we are seeing things where they "were", not where they "are". but how far back can we really look? <br /> <br />i mean the earth isn't traveling at the speed of light, so you'd figure if we look toward the point of origin (as in the direction of where the "bb" took place), there wouldn't be much to see because the light of what happened waaaaay back then has already past us up a looooong time ago.<br /><br />so what, we have to look further out to see what happened futher in? <br /><br />hmmmm...<br />just doesn't seem right.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>Peace. </p><p><font color="#33cccc">-------------------------------------------------------------------</font> <strong><font color="#993300">I'm a Rock!</font></strong></p><p><font color="#33cccc">Little Johnny was a scientist. Little Johnny is no more. For what he thought was H2O was H2SO4.</font></p> </div>

 

[pirated]

Hi MeteorWayne .. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>Peace. </p><p><font color="#33cccc">-------------------------------------------------------------------</font> <strong><font color="#993300">I'm a Rock!</font></strong></p><p><font color="#33cccc">Little Johnny was a scientist. Little Johnny is no more. For what he thought was H2O was H2SO4.</font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Since the universe is expanding, we can still see back to almost the very beginning of the Universe. Light travels 186,000 miles per second. The millions or billions of years that it takes the light from distant galaxies to get here is real time and distance.<br /><br />The Andromeda galaxy surely looks different than it did when the light started this way <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[pirated]

yeah, i understand that, but as the universe has been expanding since the begining, everything that was in the center (where it all began) has expanded out and evolved since then. and the light of what happened at that time has already past us. <br /><br />so how could we "see" it.<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>Peace. </p><p><font color="#33cccc">-------------------------------------------------------------------</font> <strong><font color="#993300">I'm a Rock!</font></strong></p><p><font color="#33cccc">Little Johnny was a scientist. Little Johnny is no more. For what he thought was H2O was H2SO4.</font></p> </div>

 

[pirated]

hey, it's a Conundrum.....<br /><br />Conundrum, a puzzle or a riddle designed to test for lateral thinking.<br /><br />Lateral thinking is a term coined by Edward de Bono, a Maltese psychologist, physician and writer. It first appeared in the title of his book The Use of Lateral Thinking, published in 1967. De Bono defines lateral thinking as methods of thinking concerned with changing concepts and perception. Lateral thinking is about reasoning that is not immediately obvious and about ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic.<br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>Peace. </p><p><font color="#33cccc">-------------------------------------------------------------------</font> <strong><font color="#993300">I'm a Rock!</font></strong></p><p><font color="#33cccc">Little Johnny was a scientist. Little Johnny is no more. For what he thought was H2O was H2SO4.</font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Well there are parts of the universe we cannot see for exactly that reason. We can only see an area 14 billion light years away, while the universe is undoubtedly much larger. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[SpeedFreek]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>yeah, i understand that, but as the universe has been expanding since the begining, everything that was in the center (where it all began) has expanded out and evolved since then. and the light of what happened at that time has already past us.<br /><br />so how could we "see" it.<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />You understand part of it, but not all of it. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />Firstly, there was no "center". You are thinking of the big-bang as an explosion in space, which is not what the theory actually describes.<br /><br />The theory describes a universe where <i>space</i> is expanding, which causes the objects within it to become more distant from each other, over time. Those objects aren't all rushing away from a central explosion <i>in</i> space, they are all being dragged along by the expansion <i>of</i> space.<br /><br />Imagine a model where a volume of space is filled with points an equal distance from each other, and those points are "lodged" within the fabric of that space. If you expand the volume to twice its original size, all the points move with the expansion and end up twice the distance from each other they were to begin with. But the key thing to remember is that no point has moved <i>through</i> the space in that volume, the volume has simply increased in size, the space has expanded and thus the points have become more distant from each other.<br /><br />Let me explain further. Imagine that volume is a cube, 1 meter along its edges, and it is filled with points that are 10cm apart in all directions. Now put yourself on a point in that cube. In front of and behind you, above you and below you, your nearest point is 10cm away, then the next one is 20cm, then 30cm, 40cm and 50cm.<br /><br />If you take that cube and expand it to 10 times its original size you end up with a cube 10 meters along its edges, with points 1 meter apart. So now you see points 1m, 2m, 3m, 4m, and 5m away <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000">_______________________________________________<br /></font><font size="2"><em>SpeedFreek</em></font> </p> </div>

 

[pirated]

o.k. so far i getting it <br /><br /><font color="yellow">----edit----</font><br /><br /> erm, arrr,,, i guess i've been watching to much of the sciece channel. all of the shows you watch on tv usually just show you a black screen, then an explosion, and there's the big bang.<br /> they never accually get into the whole jist of how the threory goes just that the universe is expanding. and now they say it's speeding-up.<br /><br />(note--- when i was a kid there were two main theories go'in around. one said the universe was static, and the other said it was expanding, or retacting, i can't remeber.)<br /><br /> but any how, i undersatnd the doppler effect and all the basic stuff. i'm just trying grasp the whole .... errmm<br />.......<br />i'm gonna have to read through that a couple more times.<br /><br />i'll get back to ya.. <img src="/images/icons/crazy.gif" /><br /><br />oh, and thanks for lenghy explanation. hopefully i'll get the idea, because this has been on my mind for years.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>Peace. </p><p><font color="#33cccc">-------------------------------------------------------------------</font> <strong><font color="#993300">I'm a Rock!</font></strong></p><p><font color="#33cccc">Little Johnny was a scientist. Little Johnny is no more. For what he thought was H2O was H2SO4.</font></p> </div>

 

[nexium]

When we look at Mars, we are seeing Mars as it was 3 to 20 minutes ago, requardless of the quality of our spyglass. A better spy glass allows us to look at things up to about 13.7 billion light-years away, that would be too faint = dim to be seen with a lesser spy glass. In that sence, we are looking farther back into time. Neil

 

[billslugg]

speedfreek<br />I read through your "rambling" explanation and it actually enjoyed it!. I learned some things. Particularly the difference between explosive separation and the stretching of space. Thank you very much! I have a new weapon in my arsenal now! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p> </div>

 

[eosophobiac]

Speedfreak,<br />I read through your response, and am happy to say it makes sense to me! Thank you for taking time to put all that into words - however long and rambling you might think it. I got quite a bit out of it, and I thank you again for using easy to understand analogies.<br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p> </div>

 

[shadow735]

If you have itunes go to the itunes store and click on tv shows and history channel and then click universe first season and download "Beyond the Big Bang" its $1.99 it gives a good explanation about the expanding universe.<br />All this stuff excites me, its all so damn amazing that I sit dumbfounded with how the universe works and I am only understanding a tiny tiny of what there is to understand.<br />Speedfreek can I kidnap you? Do you tutor? What state do you live in heh heh.<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>