Can we track matter through time by looking at different depths in space?Matter/mass exist into the space. Where does space exist?Questions about time and space (from beginner)Can Space-Time Itself Have Energy Qualities Like Momentum?Space time and agingCan we see Earth by looking into space?Question about space-timeInitially non-flat space-time makes dark matter obsolete$dots$Was time different before the great inflation?Is the universe moving through infinite space time as it expands?Beginning of space-time

Shifting between bemols and diesis in the key signature

Confusion about Complex Continued Fraction

After `ssh` without `-X` to a machine, is it possible to change `$DISPLAY` to make it work like `ssh -X`?

How do we create new idioms and use them in a novel?

What is this diamond of every day?

How exactly does an Ethernet collision happen in the cable, since nodes use different circuits for Tx and Rx?

Power Strip for Europe

Is it safe to abruptly remove Arduino power?

How do electrons receive energy when a body is heated?

MySQL importing CSV files really slow

Do cubics always have one real root?

What are you allowed to do while using the Warlock's Eldritch Master feature?

How is it possible to drive VGA displays at such high pixel clock frequencies?

Rationale to prefer local variables over instance variables?

From an axiomatic set theoric approach why can we take uncountable unions?

Can we track matter through time by looking at different depths in space?

What is Tony Stark injecting into himself in Iron Man 3?

Why do phishing e-mails use faked e-mail addresses instead of the real one?

Which classes are needed to have access to every spell in the PHB?

What do *foreign films* mean for an American?

Possible to detect presence of nuclear bomb?

Which situations would cause a company to ground or recall a aircraft series?

What will happen if my luggage gets delayed?

Is it a Cyclops number? "Nobody" knows!



Can we track matter through time by looking at different depths in space?


Matter/mass exist into the space. Where does space exist?Questions about time and space (from beginner)Can Space-Time Itself Have Energy Qualities Like Momentum?Space time and agingCan we see Earth by looking into space?Question about space-timeInitially non-flat space-time makes dark matter obsolete$dots$Was time different before the great inflation?Is the universe moving through infinite space time as it expands?Beginning of space-time













4












$begingroup$


If we look back far enough we can see all the origins of the universe, so is it possible, even if not feasible, that we could trace the history of some matter as it moves through space-time? I want to understand how looking at different depths in space and time are correlated in regards to the matter being observed.



For example would it be possible to look deep into a certain part of space and time to find some galaxy that contributed to the matter that makes up the Milky Way today? Then somehow follow it through space-time by looking at different depths and locations in space, and see how it came to be part of the Milky Way?










share|improve this question







New contributor




dmoody256 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.







$endgroup$
















    4












    $begingroup$


    If we look back far enough we can see all the origins of the universe, so is it possible, even if not feasible, that we could trace the history of some matter as it moves through space-time? I want to understand how looking at different depths in space and time are correlated in regards to the matter being observed.



    For example would it be possible to look deep into a certain part of space and time to find some galaxy that contributed to the matter that makes up the Milky Way today? Then somehow follow it through space-time by looking at different depths and locations in space, and see how it came to be part of the Milky Way?










    share|improve this question







    New contributor




    dmoody256 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
    Check out our Code of Conduct.







    $endgroup$














      4












      4








      4





      $begingroup$


      If we look back far enough we can see all the origins of the universe, so is it possible, even if not feasible, that we could trace the history of some matter as it moves through space-time? I want to understand how looking at different depths in space and time are correlated in regards to the matter being observed.



      For example would it be possible to look deep into a certain part of space and time to find some galaxy that contributed to the matter that makes up the Milky Way today? Then somehow follow it through space-time by looking at different depths and locations in space, and see how it came to be part of the Milky Way?










      share|improve this question







      New contributor




      dmoody256 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.







      $endgroup$




      If we look back far enough we can see all the origins of the universe, so is it possible, even if not feasible, that we could trace the history of some matter as it moves through space-time? I want to understand how looking at different depths in space and time are correlated in regards to the matter being observed.



      For example would it be possible to look deep into a certain part of space and time to find some galaxy that contributed to the matter that makes up the Milky Way today? Then somehow follow it through space-time by looking at different depths and locations in space, and see how it came to be part of the Milky Way?







      space-time cosmic-microwave-background






      share|improve this question







      New contributor




      dmoody256 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.











      share|improve this question







      New contributor




      dmoody256 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.









      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question






      New contributor




      dmoody256 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.









      asked 4 hours ago









      dmoody256dmoody256

      234




      234




      New contributor




      dmoody256 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.





      New contributor





      dmoody256 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.






      dmoody256 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.




















          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          4












          $begingroup$


          Would it be possible to look deep into a certain part of space and
          time to find some galaxy that contributed to the matter that makes up
          the Milky Way today?




          No, that's not possible. If we could do that, it'd mean that the matter traveled from there to here faster than its light got here, and matter can't travel faster through space than light does.



          All we can do is look at similar galaxies to the Milky Way at earlier times. And because of the expansion of space those galaxies are now even further away from us than they were when they emitted the light that we're seeing now.



          Galaxies develop (mostly) in isolation from one another, apart from the occasional merger or collision between neighbouring galaxies. Intergalactic distances are fairly huge, so it takes vast amounts of time for matter to travel from one galaxy to another, and matter is mostly bound by gravity to the galaxy it's in. Galactic escape speeds are pretty high, although the occasional star does get flung out of the galaxy by cataclysmic events like supernova explosions. But even then, such rogue bodies mostly end up in intergalactic space. The odds of them ending up in a different galaxy are pretty slim.






          share|improve this answer











          $endgroup$












          • $begingroup$
            Milky Way was one example, but my question is more generally, what about other matter? Could we track the formation of a given galaxy through time by looking at different spots and depths in space? And regards to your answer of No for the Milky Way, can we not see the origin of all matter in the CMB, including the matter (or maybe energy) that our Milky Way originated from?
            $endgroup$
            – dmoody256
            3 hours ago







          • 1




            $begingroup$
            It's the same answer-- you are asking if light from the same object emitted at two different times for that object can be seen by us at the same time. That would require that the object move with its light, i.e., move as fast as the speed of light. Instead, if we watch for ten years, all we can see is the life of that object for a similar timeframe. In fact, objects in the past look like time is going by slowly for them, so you'd end up seeing less than ten years in the life of the object.
            $endgroup$
            – Ken G
            3 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @dmoody256 What Ken G said. The CMB shows us what the universe looked like 13 billion years ago, but it doesn't show us the ancient history of right here, it shows us the similar ancient history of places that are now 46 billion lightyears away from the Milky Way.
            $endgroup$
            – PM 2Ring
            3 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @dmoody256 I think the confusion arises because the more distant something is, the older the light we receive from it. But we only receive the light from an object once, not as a series of snapshots over time and distance. The CMB, for example, was emitted from matter 13.8b years ago, but we can’t see that same matter at an earlier or later time - that would mean there are multiple copies of the same matter or that the matter moves around the Universe faster than light. The matter in our galaxy doesn’t also exist somewhere else at an earlier time.
            $endgroup$
            – Chappo
            1 hour ago











          • $begingroup$
            @Chappo I was under the assumption that the CMB we see today was all matter/energy shortly after the Bing Bang. So therefore we could see the same matter at that time and now when you look out at the Milky Way, and other depths of space. I'm thinking my assumption about CMB being all encompassing was wrong, but I'm looking into it a bit more.
            $endgroup$
            – dmoody256
            23 mins ago


















          0












          $begingroup$

          You would have to catch up to the light that carries the information you seek. It's traveled for a few billion years at this point (Earth is ~4.3B). So, you could watch the formation of Earth (Milky Way, whatever), if you could instantly teleport billions of light years away from here.



          When we watch distant galaxies and starts, what we're seeing is "old" light. The events that we see occurred many years ago. If we see a galaxy forming, and that galaxy is 10 billion light years away, then that galaxy has already formed. Its configuration at this time is very different from what we see. In fact, some of its stars have already burned out. Similarly, if you lived in (or could instantly teleport to) that galaxy, you would see the Milky Way as it appeared 10B year ago.






          share|improve this answer








          New contributor




          Tim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
          Check out our Code of Conduct.






          $endgroup$












            Your Answer





            StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function ()
            return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function ()
            StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix)
            StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
            );
            );
            , "mathjax-editing");

            StackExchange.ready(function()
            var channelOptions =
            tags: "".split(" "),
            id: "514"
            ;
            initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

            StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
            // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
            if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
            StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
            createEditor();
            );

            else
            createEditor();

            );

            function createEditor()
            StackExchange.prepareEditor(
            heartbeatType: 'answer',
            autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
            convertImagesToLinks: false,
            noModals: true,
            showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
            reputationToPostImages: null,
            bindNavPrevention: true,
            postfix: "",
            imageUploader:
            brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
            contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
            allowUrls: true
            ,
            noCode: true, onDemand: true,
            discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
            ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
            );



            );






            dmoody256 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.









            draft saved

            draft discarded


















            StackExchange.ready(
            function ()
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fastronomy.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f29937%2fcan-we-track-matter-through-time-by-looking-at-different-depths-in-space%23new-answer', 'question_page');

            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown

























            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes








            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes









            4












            $begingroup$


            Would it be possible to look deep into a certain part of space and
            time to find some galaxy that contributed to the matter that makes up
            the Milky Way today?




            No, that's not possible. If we could do that, it'd mean that the matter traveled from there to here faster than its light got here, and matter can't travel faster through space than light does.



            All we can do is look at similar galaxies to the Milky Way at earlier times. And because of the expansion of space those galaxies are now even further away from us than they were when they emitted the light that we're seeing now.



            Galaxies develop (mostly) in isolation from one another, apart from the occasional merger or collision between neighbouring galaxies. Intergalactic distances are fairly huge, so it takes vast amounts of time for matter to travel from one galaxy to another, and matter is mostly bound by gravity to the galaxy it's in. Galactic escape speeds are pretty high, although the occasional star does get flung out of the galaxy by cataclysmic events like supernova explosions. But even then, such rogue bodies mostly end up in intergalactic space. The odds of them ending up in a different galaxy are pretty slim.






            share|improve this answer











            $endgroup$












            • $begingroup$
              Milky Way was one example, but my question is more generally, what about other matter? Could we track the formation of a given galaxy through time by looking at different spots and depths in space? And regards to your answer of No for the Milky Way, can we not see the origin of all matter in the CMB, including the matter (or maybe energy) that our Milky Way originated from?
              $endgroup$
              – dmoody256
              3 hours ago







            • 1




              $begingroup$
              It's the same answer-- you are asking if light from the same object emitted at two different times for that object can be seen by us at the same time. That would require that the object move with its light, i.e., move as fast as the speed of light. Instead, if we watch for ten years, all we can see is the life of that object for a similar timeframe. In fact, objects in the past look like time is going by slowly for them, so you'd end up seeing less than ten years in the life of the object.
              $endgroup$
              – Ken G
              3 hours ago










            • $begingroup$
              @dmoody256 What Ken G said. The CMB shows us what the universe looked like 13 billion years ago, but it doesn't show us the ancient history of right here, it shows us the similar ancient history of places that are now 46 billion lightyears away from the Milky Way.
              $endgroup$
              – PM 2Ring
              3 hours ago










            • $begingroup$
              @dmoody256 I think the confusion arises because the more distant something is, the older the light we receive from it. But we only receive the light from an object once, not as a series of snapshots over time and distance. The CMB, for example, was emitted from matter 13.8b years ago, but we can’t see that same matter at an earlier or later time - that would mean there are multiple copies of the same matter or that the matter moves around the Universe faster than light. The matter in our galaxy doesn’t also exist somewhere else at an earlier time.
              $endgroup$
              – Chappo
              1 hour ago











            • $begingroup$
              @Chappo I was under the assumption that the CMB we see today was all matter/energy shortly after the Bing Bang. So therefore we could see the same matter at that time and now when you look out at the Milky Way, and other depths of space. I'm thinking my assumption about CMB being all encompassing was wrong, but I'm looking into it a bit more.
              $endgroup$
              – dmoody256
              23 mins ago















            4












            $begingroup$


            Would it be possible to look deep into a certain part of space and
            time to find some galaxy that contributed to the matter that makes up
            the Milky Way today?




            No, that's not possible. If we could do that, it'd mean that the matter traveled from there to here faster than its light got here, and matter can't travel faster through space than light does.



            All we can do is look at similar galaxies to the Milky Way at earlier times. And because of the expansion of space those galaxies are now even further away from us than they were when they emitted the light that we're seeing now.



            Galaxies develop (mostly) in isolation from one another, apart from the occasional merger or collision between neighbouring galaxies. Intergalactic distances are fairly huge, so it takes vast amounts of time for matter to travel from one galaxy to another, and matter is mostly bound by gravity to the galaxy it's in. Galactic escape speeds are pretty high, although the occasional star does get flung out of the galaxy by cataclysmic events like supernova explosions. But even then, such rogue bodies mostly end up in intergalactic space. The odds of them ending up in a different galaxy are pretty slim.






            share|improve this answer











            $endgroup$












            • $begingroup$
              Milky Way was one example, but my question is more generally, what about other matter? Could we track the formation of a given galaxy through time by looking at different spots and depths in space? And regards to your answer of No for the Milky Way, can we not see the origin of all matter in the CMB, including the matter (or maybe energy) that our Milky Way originated from?
              $endgroup$
              – dmoody256
              3 hours ago







            • 1




              $begingroup$
              It's the same answer-- you are asking if light from the same object emitted at two different times for that object can be seen by us at the same time. That would require that the object move with its light, i.e., move as fast as the speed of light. Instead, if we watch for ten years, all we can see is the life of that object for a similar timeframe. In fact, objects in the past look like time is going by slowly for them, so you'd end up seeing less than ten years in the life of the object.
              $endgroup$
              – Ken G
              3 hours ago










            • $begingroup$
              @dmoody256 What Ken G said. The CMB shows us what the universe looked like 13 billion years ago, but it doesn't show us the ancient history of right here, it shows us the similar ancient history of places that are now 46 billion lightyears away from the Milky Way.
              $endgroup$
              – PM 2Ring
              3 hours ago










            • $begingroup$
              @dmoody256 I think the confusion arises because the more distant something is, the older the light we receive from it. But we only receive the light from an object once, not as a series of snapshots over time and distance. The CMB, for example, was emitted from matter 13.8b years ago, but we can’t see that same matter at an earlier or later time - that would mean there are multiple copies of the same matter or that the matter moves around the Universe faster than light. The matter in our galaxy doesn’t also exist somewhere else at an earlier time.
              $endgroup$
              – Chappo
              1 hour ago











            • $begingroup$
              @Chappo I was under the assumption that the CMB we see today was all matter/energy shortly after the Bing Bang. So therefore we could see the same matter at that time and now when you look out at the Milky Way, and other depths of space. I'm thinking my assumption about CMB being all encompassing was wrong, but I'm looking into it a bit more.
              $endgroup$
              – dmoody256
              23 mins ago













            4












            4








            4





            $begingroup$


            Would it be possible to look deep into a certain part of space and
            time to find some galaxy that contributed to the matter that makes up
            the Milky Way today?




            No, that's not possible. If we could do that, it'd mean that the matter traveled from there to here faster than its light got here, and matter can't travel faster through space than light does.



            All we can do is look at similar galaxies to the Milky Way at earlier times. And because of the expansion of space those galaxies are now even further away from us than they were when they emitted the light that we're seeing now.



            Galaxies develop (mostly) in isolation from one another, apart from the occasional merger or collision between neighbouring galaxies. Intergalactic distances are fairly huge, so it takes vast amounts of time for matter to travel from one galaxy to another, and matter is mostly bound by gravity to the galaxy it's in. Galactic escape speeds are pretty high, although the occasional star does get flung out of the galaxy by cataclysmic events like supernova explosions. But even then, such rogue bodies mostly end up in intergalactic space. The odds of them ending up in a different galaxy are pretty slim.






            share|improve this answer











            $endgroup$




            Would it be possible to look deep into a certain part of space and
            time to find some galaxy that contributed to the matter that makes up
            the Milky Way today?




            No, that's not possible. If we could do that, it'd mean that the matter traveled from there to here faster than its light got here, and matter can't travel faster through space than light does.



            All we can do is look at similar galaxies to the Milky Way at earlier times. And because of the expansion of space those galaxies are now even further away from us than they were when they emitted the light that we're seeing now.



            Galaxies develop (mostly) in isolation from one another, apart from the occasional merger or collision between neighbouring galaxies. Intergalactic distances are fairly huge, so it takes vast amounts of time for matter to travel from one galaxy to another, and matter is mostly bound by gravity to the galaxy it's in. Galactic escape speeds are pretty high, although the occasional star does get flung out of the galaxy by cataclysmic events like supernova explosions. But even then, such rogue bodies mostly end up in intergalactic space. The odds of them ending up in a different galaxy are pretty slim.







            share|improve this answer














            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer








            edited 3 hours ago

























            answered 3 hours ago









            PM 2RingPM 2Ring

            933410




            933410











            • $begingroup$
              Milky Way was one example, but my question is more generally, what about other matter? Could we track the formation of a given galaxy through time by looking at different spots and depths in space? And regards to your answer of No for the Milky Way, can we not see the origin of all matter in the CMB, including the matter (or maybe energy) that our Milky Way originated from?
              $endgroup$
              – dmoody256
              3 hours ago







            • 1




              $begingroup$
              It's the same answer-- you are asking if light from the same object emitted at two different times for that object can be seen by us at the same time. That would require that the object move with its light, i.e., move as fast as the speed of light. Instead, if we watch for ten years, all we can see is the life of that object for a similar timeframe. In fact, objects in the past look like time is going by slowly for them, so you'd end up seeing less than ten years in the life of the object.
              $endgroup$
              – Ken G
              3 hours ago










            • $begingroup$
              @dmoody256 What Ken G said. The CMB shows us what the universe looked like 13 billion years ago, but it doesn't show us the ancient history of right here, it shows us the similar ancient history of places that are now 46 billion lightyears away from the Milky Way.
              $endgroup$
              – PM 2Ring
              3 hours ago










            • $begingroup$
              @dmoody256 I think the confusion arises because the more distant something is, the older the light we receive from it. But we only receive the light from an object once, not as a series of snapshots over time and distance. The CMB, for example, was emitted from matter 13.8b years ago, but we can’t see that same matter at an earlier or later time - that would mean there are multiple copies of the same matter or that the matter moves around the Universe faster than light. The matter in our galaxy doesn’t also exist somewhere else at an earlier time.
              $endgroup$
              – Chappo
              1 hour ago











            • $begingroup$
              @Chappo I was under the assumption that the CMB we see today was all matter/energy shortly after the Bing Bang. So therefore we could see the same matter at that time and now when you look out at the Milky Way, and other depths of space. I'm thinking my assumption about CMB being all encompassing was wrong, but I'm looking into it a bit more.
              $endgroup$
              – dmoody256
              23 mins ago
















            • $begingroup$
              Milky Way was one example, but my question is more generally, what about other matter? Could we track the formation of a given galaxy through time by looking at different spots and depths in space? And regards to your answer of No for the Milky Way, can we not see the origin of all matter in the CMB, including the matter (or maybe energy) that our Milky Way originated from?
              $endgroup$
              – dmoody256
              3 hours ago







            • 1




              $begingroup$
              It's the same answer-- you are asking if light from the same object emitted at two different times for that object can be seen by us at the same time. That would require that the object move with its light, i.e., move as fast as the speed of light. Instead, if we watch for ten years, all we can see is the life of that object for a similar timeframe. In fact, objects in the past look like time is going by slowly for them, so you'd end up seeing less than ten years in the life of the object.
              $endgroup$
              – Ken G
              3 hours ago










            • $begingroup$
              @dmoody256 What Ken G said. The CMB shows us what the universe looked like 13 billion years ago, but it doesn't show us the ancient history of right here, it shows us the similar ancient history of places that are now 46 billion lightyears away from the Milky Way.
              $endgroup$
              – PM 2Ring
              3 hours ago










            • $begingroup$
              @dmoody256 I think the confusion arises because the more distant something is, the older the light we receive from it. But we only receive the light from an object once, not as a series of snapshots over time and distance. The CMB, for example, was emitted from matter 13.8b years ago, but we can’t see that same matter at an earlier or later time - that would mean there are multiple copies of the same matter or that the matter moves around the Universe faster than light. The matter in our galaxy doesn’t also exist somewhere else at an earlier time.
              $endgroup$
              – Chappo
              1 hour ago











            • $begingroup$
              @Chappo I was under the assumption that the CMB we see today was all matter/energy shortly after the Bing Bang. So therefore we could see the same matter at that time and now when you look out at the Milky Way, and other depths of space. I'm thinking my assumption about CMB being all encompassing was wrong, but I'm looking into it a bit more.
              $endgroup$
              – dmoody256
              23 mins ago















            $begingroup$
            Milky Way was one example, but my question is more generally, what about other matter? Could we track the formation of a given galaxy through time by looking at different spots and depths in space? And regards to your answer of No for the Milky Way, can we not see the origin of all matter in the CMB, including the matter (or maybe energy) that our Milky Way originated from?
            $endgroup$
            – dmoody256
            3 hours ago





            $begingroup$
            Milky Way was one example, but my question is more generally, what about other matter? Could we track the formation of a given galaxy through time by looking at different spots and depths in space? And regards to your answer of No for the Milky Way, can we not see the origin of all matter in the CMB, including the matter (or maybe energy) that our Milky Way originated from?
            $endgroup$
            – dmoody256
            3 hours ago





            1




            1




            $begingroup$
            It's the same answer-- you are asking if light from the same object emitted at two different times for that object can be seen by us at the same time. That would require that the object move with its light, i.e., move as fast as the speed of light. Instead, if we watch for ten years, all we can see is the life of that object for a similar timeframe. In fact, objects in the past look like time is going by slowly for them, so you'd end up seeing less than ten years in the life of the object.
            $endgroup$
            – Ken G
            3 hours ago




            $begingroup$
            It's the same answer-- you are asking if light from the same object emitted at two different times for that object can be seen by us at the same time. That would require that the object move with its light, i.e., move as fast as the speed of light. Instead, if we watch for ten years, all we can see is the life of that object for a similar timeframe. In fact, objects in the past look like time is going by slowly for them, so you'd end up seeing less than ten years in the life of the object.
            $endgroup$
            – Ken G
            3 hours ago












            $begingroup$
            @dmoody256 What Ken G said. The CMB shows us what the universe looked like 13 billion years ago, but it doesn't show us the ancient history of right here, it shows us the similar ancient history of places that are now 46 billion lightyears away from the Milky Way.
            $endgroup$
            – PM 2Ring
            3 hours ago




            $begingroup$
            @dmoody256 What Ken G said. The CMB shows us what the universe looked like 13 billion years ago, but it doesn't show us the ancient history of right here, it shows us the similar ancient history of places that are now 46 billion lightyears away from the Milky Way.
            $endgroup$
            – PM 2Ring
            3 hours ago












            $begingroup$
            @dmoody256 I think the confusion arises because the more distant something is, the older the light we receive from it. But we only receive the light from an object once, not as a series of snapshots over time and distance. The CMB, for example, was emitted from matter 13.8b years ago, but we can’t see that same matter at an earlier or later time - that would mean there are multiple copies of the same matter or that the matter moves around the Universe faster than light. The matter in our galaxy doesn’t also exist somewhere else at an earlier time.
            $endgroup$
            – Chappo
            1 hour ago





            $begingroup$
            @dmoody256 I think the confusion arises because the more distant something is, the older the light we receive from it. But we only receive the light from an object once, not as a series of snapshots over time and distance. The CMB, for example, was emitted from matter 13.8b years ago, but we can’t see that same matter at an earlier or later time - that would mean there are multiple copies of the same matter or that the matter moves around the Universe faster than light. The matter in our galaxy doesn’t also exist somewhere else at an earlier time.
            $endgroup$
            – Chappo
            1 hour ago













            $begingroup$
            @Chappo I was under the assumption that the CMB we see today was all matter/energy shortly after the Bing Bang. So therefore we could see the same matter at that time and now when you look out at the Milky Way, and other depths of space. I'm thinking my assumption about CMB being all encompassing was wrong, but I'm looking into it a bit more.
            $endgroup$
            – dmoody256
            23 mins ago




            $begingroup$
            @Chappo I was under the assumption that the CMB we see today was all matter/energy shortly after the Bing Bang. So therefore we could see the same matter at that time and now when you look out at the Milky Way, and other depths of space. I'm thinking my assumption about CMB being all encompassing was wrong, but I'm looking into it a bit more.
            $endgroup$
            – dmoody256
            23 mins ago











            0












            $begingroup$

            You would have to catch up to the light that carries the information you seek. It's traveled for a few billion years at this point (Earth is ~4.3B). So, you could watch the formation of Earth (Milky Way, whatever), if you could instantly teleport billions of light years away from here.



            When we watch distant galaxies and starts, what we're seeing is "old" light. The events that we see occurred many years ago. If we see a galaxy forming, and that galaxy is 10 billion light years away, then that galaxy has already formed. Its configuration at this time is very different from what we see. In fact, some of its stars have already burned out. Similarly, if you lived in (or could instantly teleport to) that galaxy, you would see the Milky Way as it appeared 10B year ago.






            share|improve this answer








            New contributor




            Tim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
            Check out our Code of Conduct.






            $endgroup$

















              0












              $begingroup$

              You would have to catch up to the light that carries the information you seek. It's traveled for a few billion years at this point (Earth is ~4.3B). So, you could watch the formation of Earth (Milky Way, whatever), if you could instantly teleport billions of light years away from here.



              When we watch distant galaxies and starts, what we're seeing is "old" light. The events that we see occurred many years ago. If we see a galaxy forming, and that galaxy is 10 billion light years away, then that galaxy has already formed. Its configuration at this time is very different from what we see. In fact, some of its stars have already burned out. Similarly, if you lived in (or could instantly teleport to) that galaxy, you would see the Milky Way as it appeared 10B year ago.






              share|improve this answer








              New contributor




              Tim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
              Check out our Code of Conduct.






              $endgroup$















                0












                0








                0





                $begingroup$

                You would have to catch up to the light that carries the information you seek. It's traveled for a few billion years at this point (Earth is ~4.3B). So, you could watch the formation of Earth (Milky Way, whatever), if you could instantly teleport billions of light years away from here.



                When we watch distant galaxies and starts, what we're seeing is "old" light. The events that we see occurred many years ago. If we see a galaxy forming, and that galaxy is 10 billion light years away, then that galaxy has already formed. Its configuration at this time is very different from what we see. In fact, some of its stars have already burned out. Similarly, if you lived in (or could instantly teleport to) that galaxy, you would see the Milky Way as it appeared 10B year ago.






                share|improve this answer








                New contributor




                Tim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.






                $endgroup$



                You would have to catch up to the light that carries the information you seek. It's traveled for a few billion years at this point (Earth is ~4.3B). So, you could watch the formation of Earth (Milky Way, whatever), if you could instantly teleport billions of light years away from here.



                When we watch distant galaxies and starts, what we're seeing is "old" light. The events that we see occurred many years ago. If we see a galaxy forming, and that galaxy is 10 billion light years away, then that galaxy has already formed. Its configuration at this time is very different from what we see. In fact, some of its stars have already burned out. Similarly, if you lived in (or could instantly teleport to) that galaxy, you would see the Milky Way as it appeared 10B year ago.







                share|improve this answer








                New contributor




                Tim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.









                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer






                New contributor




                Tim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.









                answered 19 mins ago









                TimTim

                1




                1




                New contributor




                Tim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.





                New contributor





                Tim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.






                Tim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.




















                    dmoody256 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.









                    draft saved

                    draft discarded


















                    dmoody256 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.












                    dmoody256 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.











                    dmoody256 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.














                    Thanks for contributing an answer to Astronomy Stack Exchange!


                    • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                    But avoid


                    • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                    • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.

                    Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


                    To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                    draft saved


                    draft discarded














                    StackExchange.ready(
                    function ()
                    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fastronomy.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f29937%2fcan-we-track-matter-through-time-by-looking-at-different-depths-in-space%23new-answer', 'question_page');

                    );

                    Post as a guest















                    Required, but never shown





















































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown

































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown







                    -cosmic-microwave-background, space-time

                    Popular posts from this blog

                    Frič See also Navigation menuinternal link

                    Identify plant with long narrow paired leaves and reddish stems Planned maintenance scheduled April 17/18, 2019 at 00:00UTC (8:00pm US/Eastern) Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara Unicorn Meta Zoo #1: Why another podcast?What is this plant with long sharp leaves? Is it a weed?What is this 3ft high, stalky plant, with mid sized narrow leaves?What is this young shrub with opposite ovate, crenate leaves and reddish stems?What is this plant with large broad serrated leaves?Identify this upright branching weed with long leaves and reddish stemsPlease help me identify this bulbous plant with long, broad leaves and white flowersWhat is this small annual with narrow gray/green leaves and rust colored daisy-type flowers?What is this chilli plant?Does anyone know what type of chilli plant this is?Help identify this plant

                    fontconfig warning: “/etc/fonts/fonts.conf”, line 100: unknown “element blank” The 2019 Stack Overflow Developer Survey Results Are In“tar: unrecognized option --warning” during 'apt-get install'How to fix Fontconfig errorHow do I figure out which font file is chosen for a system generic font alias?Why are some apt-get-installed fonts being ignored by fc-list, xfontsel, etc?Reload settings in /etc/fonts/conf.dTaking 30 seconds longer to boot after upgrade from jessie to stretchHow to match multiple font names with a single <match> element?Adding a custom font to fontconfigRemoving fonts from fontconfig <match> resultsBroken fonts after upgrading Firefox ESR to latest Firefox