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skytomorrownow t1_j497s4n wrote

Reply to comment by Siellus in Is time travel going to happen yes or no? by MixOk1458

OK, maybe we cannot travel back in time, but could we observe the past directly in some way? Could we livestream the past and beam the stream forward in time in some way?

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Siellus t1_j498mmv wrote

Technically, yes.

Realistically, no.

Have one gigantic galaxy sized & perfectly calibrated refracted mirror 10 lightyears away perpetually focused on us at all times.

Point a gigantic planet sized telescope at it. done, you can now see Earth Live from 10 20 years ago.

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Willing_Definition71 t1_j499zwf wrote

If you looked at a mirror 10 light years away, you would see 20 years in the past

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Siellus t1_j49afp2 wrote

Derp, You're right - I meant 5 lightyears away (roughly near proxima centauri, but went with 5 rather than 4.2 because meh) and 10 for the whole journey back and forth.

But you're right, I'll change it! :)

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Willing_Definition71 t1_j4994vv wrote

I have heard similar ideas that if a time machine was created, that it would only be able to travel back to the point it was switched on

So since we have not invented it yet, nobody is travelling back this far

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mymymy23 t1_j498qjc wrote

If wormholes exist, couldn’t we warp to a space far away from earth, look at it, then watch the light just reaching us?

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Siellus t1_j49f02x wrote

Sure, You'd never find earth though. And you'd need a telescope the size of a planet at least, and even that probably won't be big enough.

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SiliconeArmadildo t1_j49o2v6 wrote

>could we observe the past directly in some way

Yes. When we see something in deep space, light years away, we're observing that something's past, in real time.

If we look at a star that say, 100 light years away, we're watching that star as it existed 100 years ago. To see what's happening with that star at this moment in time, we'll have to wait 100 years, perhaps longer if that star is moving away from earth.

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