Things in space being “xxxx lightyears away”, therefore light from the object would take “xxxx years to reach us on earth”

Question

I don’t really understand it, could someone explain in basic terms?

Are we saying if a star is 120 million lightyears away, light from the star would take 120 million years to reach us? Meaning from the pov of time on earth, the light left the star when the earth was still in its Cretaceous period?

In: 292

Answer 1

You can see the speed of sound on Earth if you pay attention. Dog on the far shore of a lake barks, you see it (eg) a quarter second before you hear it. The dog is a quarter of a sound-second away.