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Can One Use a Telescope to Observe Objects in the Future as Well as the Past?

-- Tim | February 24, 2020

Question:

If I had a strong enough telescope on the moon and I pointed it at earth Would I be looking into the past or into the future?
I understand if I look into outer space from earth I am looking into the past I’m assuming if you look at earth from outer space You might be looking into the future please let me know if I’m correct

-- Tim

Answer:

Due to the fact that the speed of light is a constant value throughout the Universe, one always sees objects beyond Earth as they appeared in the past. Sometimes this is only a little over a second, as is the case when observing the Earth from the Moon, while for objects in the distant Universe we are often seeing objects as they appeared many millions of years ago.

-- Jeff Mangum

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