The (Hypothetical) Time Machine Telescope Idea

[Narstrom]

Salaam! Hello KSF!

I've been mulling about a silly idea in my head for a few days, and I've givein the thought;

We're all familer with the theroy of reletivity yes?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_relativity

Well, lets say scientists create a telescope that could be magnified to infinity and somehow devised a way to put it out one light year away from the earth (but avoid the issue of data delay so things are relayed instantly between control and the telescope), my thought is, Now that that telescope is pointed at eart, Techinically would it not see the light earth sent off a year ago? thus, since it can zoom infinitly, be able to see back in time a year? It would be a birds eye view of the past, no? - nzuri bwana; I know it sound crazy, but hey! Thats just me

Anyways, discuss if you will, I'm eager to know what others think. Obviously this will never be real, but it's plausible yes?

[NGTOne]

Well, ASSUMING that it could transmit data back to Earth instantaneously (or there was someone there looking through it), yes, it would see Earth as it appeared a year ago. However, it's not a "time machine" in any sense, i.e. it cannot actually travel through time. It would always be seeing the Earth as it was, one year before the present date.

Let's say I have two calendars, one on Earth and the other on your telescope. The one on the telescope says August 31, 2013. The one on Earth would say August 31, 2012. The next day, the telescope's calendar would say September 1, 2013, and the Earthside calendar would say September 1, 2012.

The same principle applies regardless of how far the telescope is from Earth. If I put a telescope 70 million light-years from Earth, and could amplify and massage the light enough, I would be looking at dinosaurs (wave to the T-rex for me, would you?). Then, 70 million years later, the telescope would be seeing us.

[Diche Bach]

The same principle applies regardless of how far the telescope is from Earth. If I put a telescope 70 million light-years from Earth, and could amplify and massage the light enough, I would be looking at dinosaurs (wave to the T-rex for me, would you?). Then, 70 million years later, the telescope would be seeing us.

Assuming that you could place said telescope out there that far away immediately, as in "right now."

If it had to travel there, say for example at the speed of light, then once it got there (70 million years from now), it would be seeing the Earth of today.

Another way of saying this: when aliens in a galaxy 70 million light years from Earth point their high-tech instruments at Earth to see what it looks like "right now" (meaning August 2013 in human terms) what they see is Earth as it was 70 million light years ago, i.e., no humans nor even very many mammals, but lots of big reptiles and a very hot tropical planet with very deep oceans and not much polar ice.

Because light travels at the speed of light and no faster, this same principle of "looking into the past" is true across the board. A take home from this is that: when we look at objects 70 million light years distant, we are not observing their actual characteristics "right now" nor even (if I understand it fully) their positions and trajectories "right now." We are rather looking at their characteristics as they were 70 million years ago.

Edited August 31, 2013 by Diche Bach

[Helix935]

how about instead of pointing it at earth how about having a telescope like this stationed at virtually the edge of the universe where it can literally record the beginning of the universe and if it missed something just have it move back farther( like a light-minute or hour or so) to see what it missed. Although this would probably be nearly impossible due to the massive distances but assuming some super advanced alien species from some far away galaxy or so could have also thought of doing this and maybe even had done using wormholes but we may never know....

also there is are easier ways that have been thought up by science fiction writers to look into the past using worm holes...

[Narstrom]

Perhaps that is why no Aliens have decided to pay us a visit, they have no idea about us delightful humans even though we are constantly spamming space with radio static every day of every year. Perhaps we'll be invaded one day becuase they are sick of hearing the static.

[Diche Bach]

Some of the technical guys who are regulars on here have commented in previous threads that, our run-of-the-mill radio and TV, etc., transmissions are not likely to ever be picked up by an extra-terrestrial unless they were very specifically and actively looking at Earth and making a considerable effort using very high-tech apparatus.

I think the consensus is, there is surprising lack of any signals of advanced extraterrestrial life out there. But I gather that, life in general or life that was only about as advanced as us, could readily go undetected even if it were within a 'fairly' short distance of the Sol system.

Here we have to put into perspective that "fairly short" means, much farther away that we will likely ever visit (or at least until we have space programs that are many orders of magnitude more progressed than at present). The nearest star system to Earth are Proxima and Alpha centauri at about 4.8 and 6.5 light years. It has been a while since I did the math, but . . . at the best speeds we have currently attained, that is about 50,000 years travel away.

Using nuclear pulse propulsion, it could be as short as 40 or 50 years travel, and that is one technology that is 'technically' feasible though it would be exceptionally expensive. Moreover, there may well be nothing of any merit or interest at either of the two centuari systems.

Here is a thread where I got several of these guys to comment on some of the themes related to this stuff: Maximum Velocity Currently Attainable? The Future?

As to why interstellar traveling aliens have (apparently) yet to pay us a visit . . . one possible answer to the Fermi Paradox, that you may not be familiar with is the Rare Earth Hypothesis, which I personally find very intriguging and difficult to discount. The idea of advanced extra-terrestrials is fascinating, but it just may be that we are truly alone in the Milky Way.

In planetary astronomy and astrobiology, the Rare Earth hypothesis argues that the emergence of complex multicellular life (metazoa) on Earth (and, subsequently, intelligence) required an improbable combination of astrophysical and geological events and circumstances. The hypothesis argues that complex extraterrestrial life requires an Earth-like planet with similar circumstance and that few if any such planets exist. The term "Rare Earth" originates from Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe (2000), a book by Peter Ward, a geologist and paleontologist, and Donald E. Brownlee, an astronomer and astrobiologist.

Edited August 31, 2013 by Diche Bach