Novice Question for sure

[bcreegan]

<p>I was looking at the night sky with my teenage daughters and told them I had heard some of the stars we were seeing were now dead and the light was only now reaching us. I recieved the usual look (you are a moron dad, they are usually right but maybe just once I would be) Is this true? Is there a name for this phenomenom or event or whatever it is?&nbsp; A Dad</p>

 

[rubicondsrv]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>I was looking at the night sky with my teenage daughters and told them I had heard some of the stars we were seeing were now dead and the light was only now reaching us. I recieved the usual look (you are a moron dad, they are usually right but maybe just once I would be) Is this true? Is there a name for this phenomenom or event or whatever it is?&nbsp; A Dad <br />Posted by bcreegan</DIV><br /><br />it is true.</p><p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[bcreegan]

Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>it is true.&nbsp; <br />Posted by rubicondsrv</DIV><br /><br />Is there a name for the "thing"??

 

[MeteorWayne]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Is there a name for the "thing"?? <br />Posted by bcreegan</DIV><br /><br />Yup there is, it's called the speed of light. It only travels 186,000&nbsp; miles a second.</p><p>Wait till you tell them that the sun isn't where we see it,&nbsp;we see it&nbsp;where it was a bit more than 8 minutes ago, because it took that long for the light to get here!</p><p>So, while most of the stars that we see in the sky still exist (since looking up in the sky, we can only see Milky Way stars), there are&nbsp;a few that are already gone, but their last light hasn't reached here yet!</p><p>BTW, Welcome to Space.com!</p><p>&nbsp;</p> <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>

 

[crazyeddie]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>I was looking at the night sky with my teenage daughters and told them I had heard some of the stars we were seeing were now dead and the light was only now reaching us. I recieved the usual look (you are a moron dad, they are usually right but maybe just once I would be) Is this true? Is there a name for this phenomenom or event or whatever it is?&nbsp; A Dad <br /> Posted by bcreegan</DIV></p><p>Most, but not all, of the stars you see in the sky are intrinsically large and bright, which means they burn through their nuclear fuel quickly and then end their lives by either exploding into supernovas, or else expanding into giant and supergiant stars that eventually turn into white dwarfs. &nbsp;The normal, long-lived stars like our sun can only be easily viewed if they are relatively nearby in our stellar neighborhood, and the most long-lived and numerous of all, the red dwarfs, cannot be seen at all with the naked eye. &nbsp;So it is indeed possible that some of the stars you see when you gaze up are no longer in the form you see them in.....Betelgeuse in Orion, for example, or Arcturus in Scorpio may have already blown themselves up, but the light of their explosions have not reaches us yet. &nbsp;There is no formal name for this situation that I know of, but you can always tell your doubtful daughters that it's a consequence of the lightspeed barrier.</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[kg]

Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>it is true.&nbsp; <br />Posted by rubicondsrv</DIV><br /><br />I don't think this is quite right.&nbsp; Most naked eye stars are only from a few to&nbsp;hundreds&nbsp;of light years.&nbsp; Globular clusters&nbsp;are tens&nbsp;of thousands of light years.&nbsp; The Andromeda Galaxy is only some 2 million light years and that is still visible without a telescope (if you know right were to look).&nbsp; 2 million years is not&nbsp;much time&nbsp;compared to the life of a star.&nbsp; I think&nbsp;almost all&nbsp;of the stars&nbsp;you can&nbsp;see in the night sky are alive and healthy!&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

 

[crazyeddie]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>I don't think this is quite right.&nbsp; Most naked eye stars are only from a few to&nbsp;hundreds&nbsp;of light years.&nbsp; Globular clusters&nbsp;are tens&nbsp;of thousands of light years.&nbsp; The Andromeda Galaxy is only some 2 million light years and that is still visible without a telescope (if you know right were to look).&nbsp; 2 million years is not&nbsp;much time&nbsp;compared to the life of a star.&nbsp; <span style="font-weight:bold" class="Apple-style-span">I think&nbsp;almost all&nbsp;of the stars&nbsp;you can&nbsp;see in the night sky are alive and healthy!&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><br /> Posted by kg</DIV></p><p><span style="font-size:small" class="Apple-style-span">Well, he did say,</span> "<span style="border-collapse:collapse;font-size:12px" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-weight:bold" class="Apple-style-span">some</span> of the stars we were seeing were now dead" &nbsp;so since it's possible that some may, in fact, be dead, it makes it a true statement.<span style="border-collapse:separate;font-size:10px" class="Apple-style-span">&nbsp;</span></span></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[bcreegan]

Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Yup there is, it's called the speed of light. It only travels 186,000&nbsp; miles a second.Wait till you tell them that the sun isn't where we see it,&nbsp;we see it&nbsp;where it was a bit more than 8 minutes ago, because it took that long for the light to get here!So, while most of the stars that we see in the sky still exist (since looking up in the sky, we can only see Milky Way stars), there are&nbsp;a few that are already gone, but their last light hasn't reached here yet!BTW, Welcome to Space.com!&nbsp; <br />Posted by MeteorWayne</DIV><br /><br />Thanks a very cool site !

 

[bcreegan]

Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Most, but not all, of the stars you see in the sky are intrinsically large and bright, which means they burn through their nuclear fuel quickly and then end their lives by either exploding into supernovas, or else expanding into giant and supergiant stars that eventually turn into white dwarfs. &nbsp;The normal, long-lived stars like our sun can only be easily viewed if they are relatively nearby in our stellar neighborhood, and the most long-lived and numerous of all, the red dwarfs, cannot be seen at all with the naked eye. &nbsp;So it is indeed possible that some of the stars you see when you gaze up are no longer in the form you see them in.....Betelgeuse in Orion, for example, or Arcturus in Scorpio may have already blown themselves up, but the light of their explosions have not reaches us yet. &nbsp;There is no formal name for this situation that I know of, but you can always tell your doubtful daughters that it's a consequence of the lightspeed barrier. <br />Posted by crazyeddie</DIV><br /><br />Thanks for your response.&nbsp;&nbsp;

 

[bcreegan]

Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>I don't think this is quite right.&nbsp; Most naked eye stars are only from a few to&nbsp;hundreds&nbsp;of light years.&nbsp; Globular clusters&nbsp;are tens&nbsp;of thousands of light years.&nbsp; The Andromeda Galaxy is only some 2 million light years and that is still visible without a telescope (if you know right were to look).&nbsp; 2 million years is not&nbsp;much time&nbsp;compared to the life of a star.&nbsp; I think&nbsp;almost all&nbsp;of the stars&nbsp;you can&nbsp;see in the night sky are alive and healthy!&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br />Posted by kg</DIV><br /><br />thanks ----but I'm going with the answer below---I have to be right once in a while--Thanks again

 

[AstroHurricane001]

Well, faraway stars have a greater chance of already having exploded. For example, Eta Carinae (only visible in the suoth) may have already exploded, but the light from the explosion would only arrive at Earth about 8,000 years after the explosion. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>