Very Powerful Telescope to see 10 light years away at high resolution....

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SUMMARY

A powerful telescope capable of observing 10 light years away would indeed allow the viewer to see events as they occurred a decade prior, due to the finite speed of light. This means that images of cars and people would be visible as they were 10 years ago, not in real-time. The discussion emphasizes that this scenario is not a question of relativity but rather a consequence of light travel time. Theoretical physicists from the 1700s would affirm this principle, provided that the telescope's aperture is sufficiently large and unobstructed by cosmic dust.

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RandyD123
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Lets suppose I had a very powerful telescope and I could see 10 light years away. Would I see cars and people on that planet as they were 10 years ago? Would I actually see the people moving and the cars moving on the ground?
 
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This isn't a relativity question. Physicists from 1700s (perhaps even earlier) would have told you yes, and yes*. This only depends on finite light speed.

*You might need to clear out dust from space and have an aperture much larger than the solar system, but whatever, that's fine for a thought experiment.

< Moderator Note -- thread is now moved from Relativity forum to General Physics >
 
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