Astronomy Picture of the Day 2-25-03

NASA ^ | 2-25-03 | Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell

[Sally II]

Thanks for the advice, Ronaldus. When we've tried looking at the stars we just aimed for the brightest lights. I guess that wasn't the best method. We'll give it another try on a clear night. :o)

[Ronaldus Magnus Reagan]

Sally, one last thought for you and your dad to consider.

When you look at Saturn through the telescope, you arn't looking at Saturn as it looks at that moment. You are looking at Saturn as it appeared 90 minutes ago! It takes that long for the light to reach you!

As for stars, many stars are at least hundreds (or thousands or millions) of light years away. If a star is 500 light years away, you are looking at the star as it appeared 500 years ago. It might have already blown up (supernova) in the meantime, yet we can't see it yet!

As for the moon, you're seeing how it looked 1 1/2 seconds ago.

Amazing fact, huh?