Well put— “Was” a pair of galaxies. Was just thinking, a) how beautiful a photo with such clarity then b.) this beautiful light is visible to us when photographed— and is light that is showing up from how long ago in time?
So started down the calculation:
230 million light years away. A light year is the distance that light will travel in 365 Earth days time. Speed of light is 186,000 miles a second.
The galaxies said to be seen 230 million light years away, aren’t actually 230 million light years away. Their light has been traveling for 230 million years to reach us.
If everything in the universe is stationary- then the galaxies would have emitted their light 230 million years ago.
Mostly all this would be the case if the universe was stationary. But... the universe is expanding. away in times— many multiples of the oldest. Spooky.
Yes, one light year works out to around 5.9 TRILLION miles. The galaxies are in the neighborhood of 230 LYs! So if you plan on visiting pack a sweater and a few sandwiches. :)