Is it true looking at an object from a great distance with a telescope will show the past version of the object?

Question

Once again from my son's workbook.

It discussed standing on a planet 65 million light years away from Earth, with an extremely powerful telescope pointed at Earth. It claimed that then you could see the dinosaurs if that was the case.

Why?

Answer 1

Yes, that's true, though whether you could actually see dinosaurs is debatable because from 65 million light years away they'd be pretty small :-)

The reason is very simple. When you look at a dinosaur you're seeing the light reflected from the dinosaur's skin. That light travels at a finite speed, so it takes a finite time to get from the dinosaur's skin to you. If you're a light year away from the dinosaur what you're seeing is the light reflected off the dinosaur's skin a year ago.

Answer 2

To The Star

by Mihai Eminescu, 1886

To the star up in ethereal heights
There's a path so far to stray,
Thousands of years might have its lights
Been wandering 'til today.

Maybe it perished long ago
On its way down through blue space,
This moment yet you come to know
Its shine upon your face.

The icon, gently soaring high,
Of that star now long since dead:
Could never spot it while alive,
Now gone - we see it yet.

Alike when our desire grown old
And lost in deepest night,
The light of faded love now cold
Still reaches our sight.

(Transl. by Alfred W. Tüting 1994 © All rights reserved)