How far back in time can we see in space? 

Image courtesy google

We can see back in time to about 13.8 billion years ago, which is roughly the age of the universe. This is because light takes time to travel, so when we look at distant objects in space, we are actually seeing them as they were in the past.
For example, the light from the Andromeda Galaxy, which is our nearest major galactic neighbor, takes about 2.5 million years to reach us. So, when we look at Andromeda, we are seeing it as it was 2.5 million years ago.
The farthest object we can currently see is the cosmic microwave background (CMB), which is the leftover radiation from the Big Bang. The CMB is about 13.8 billion years old, so it gives us a glimpse of the universe as it was just 380,000 years after the Big Bang.

When looking into space, we can see back in time to approximately 13.8 billion years ago, which is the age of the universe, by observing the cosmic microwave background radiation, the leftover light from the Big Bang; however, due to the expansion of the universe, the furthest observable objects are currently situated around 46.1 billion light-years away, meaning we can see objects that emitted light from that distance 13.8 billion years ago. 

Key points about seeing back in time in space: 

  • Light travel time:The further away an object is, the longer it takes for its light to reach us, essentially allowing us to see it as it was in the past. 
  • Cosmic Microwave Background:This radiation is considered the furthest we can see back in time, as it represents the light emitted shortly after the Big Bang. 
  • Expanding Universe:Due to the expansion of space, the furthest observable objects are much further away than 13.8 billion light-years, meaning we can see objects from very early in the universe’s history. 

How can we see back in time in space?

Telescopes can be time machines. Looking out in space is like looking back in time. It sounds magical, but it’s actually very simple: Light needs time to travel across the vast distances of space to reach us. Despite our Moon’s closeness, the light from it is still 1.3 seconds old by the time it reaches your eyes

How far back in time can we see?

The Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes have observed the most distant star ever seen – Earendel – whose name means morning star. Even though Earendel is 50 times the mass of our sun, and millions of times brighter, we would not normally be able to see it. We can only see it due to an alignment of the star with a large galaxy cluster in front of it whose gravity bends the light from the star to make it brighter and more focused. The galaxy cluster essentially acts as a lens

Webb can see back further in time

To see farther back in time, the objects need to be very bright. And the farthest objects we have seen are the most massive and brightest galaxies. The brightest galaxies are ones with quasars in them. Quasars are luminous objects powered by supermassive black holes

Before 1998, the farthest detected quasar galaxies were about 12.6 billion years lookback time. The improved resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope increased the lookback time to 13.4 billion years, and with the Webb we expect to improve on this possibly to 13.55 billion years for galaxies and stars. (Read about Webb’s early record-breaking galaxy discoveries.)

Stars started to form a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, in a time that we call the cosmic dawn. We would like to be able to see the stars at the cosmic dawn, as this could confirm our theories on how the universe and galaxies formed. That said, research suggests we may never be able to see the most distant objects with telescopes in as much details as we like. The universe may have a fundamental resolution limit.

Please like subscribe comment your precious comment on universe discoveries

sk-mania-blogs.in

Full article source google

2 thoughts on “How far back in time can we see in space? 

Leave a Reply