If I looked at the earth through a telescope from 500 light years away, would I be able to observe life on earth in 1524?

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Imagine I have a telescope with strong enough zoom to observe the earth like google maps street view, if I looked at the earth very closely from 500 light years away, would I see 1524 happening in real time? Or time as it is now?

In: Planetary Science

11 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

No. Because 500 years ago already happened and the light is now already 500 light years from earth. If you made a telescope here on earth NOW, you would still have to move it 500 light years away. (Or move yourself 500 light years and set up a telescope.) The fastest you could do this is at the speed of light. Quickly setting up your telescope and looking back, you would only see events that happened shortly after you left, which you could have seen much more clearly if you just stuck around and looked at them.