A theory to SEE back in time.

Hello People:
I believe this is my first post, so please cut me some slack if I do anything wrong. I had an idea several years ago, nothing earth shattering, but kind of interesting. I haven't seen or heard it mentioned anywhere, so I thought I'd share it. I believe this could theoretically be done. But logistically, it would probably be impossible. Everyone realizes the further away from earth we look through telescopes, the further back in time we look. Well, if were to find a reflective object (to act as a mirror) 66 million light years away, we could look back and see the earth when dinosaurs were still around. Likewise, depending on the length away of the reflective object, we could see the earth at whatever stage it was at that time. I'm not a "theoretical astrophysicist" so I'm assuming there will be several reasons why this idea is incorrect. But, it would certainly be interesting if it could be done. Especially considering the fact most scientists agree we could never travel BACK in time if time travel was ever worked out.
Regards,
Chris

I like your innovative thinking and welcome to posting on ATS!!

Right off the bat I would think that the time to get an image back and forth would be limiting i.e. along the range of millions of years. Great innovative thinking though. S&F.

reply to post by CBS01


I have to agree with GTORick. I great idea ...in concept, but as you pointed out yourself, impractical. BUT, should we manage to discover a way to get ourselves to some distant location I feel your idea might work. They are always talking of 'worm holes' and 'stargates' and such things. If we manage this you could have something.

Good thinking. Keep it up. Some of the greatest discoveries started as 'crazy' ideas.

I like your thinking!

This may be of interest to you:



And you can find the full episode here:

(5 parts)
www.youtube.com...

Thanks for your positive feedback. I know this is not something within our means to accomplish right now. But, down the road several years/decades from now, someone a lot smarter than me might be able to work out the obstacles. Especially with the advancement of technology seeming to advance exponentially the last few decades. Anyway, it was just an idea I wanted to share and I'm grateful for your replies!

Lets say for a moment a Giant mirror was possible. Light would have to travel from the Earth to the mirror. Then from the mirror back. Time there, time back, equals delay. Some one correct me if this assumption is wrong. Theoretically, if the delay were long enough, you could very well see into the past. When you look into a mirror in the bathroom, I would say that you are effectively seeing the past. Although it is merely fractions of a fraction of a second.

The size of the mirror, distortion due to gravitational effects, debris, and movement would make this idea relatively impossible. Great concept though.

If there were a way to actually see or retrieve the "actual" light from the past, then we would have something.

[edit on 7/3/2009 by reticledc]

I believe there is a slight problem in your thinking. You believe that your concept is what is outlandish when in actuality its your application.

For example it usually takes about eight minutes for sunlight to reach earth. This means that whenever you are looking at the sun, you are actually looking at the sun from eight minutes ago.

This means that your concept could effectively be used within our very own solar system. Although it would be quite far-fetched, with the right optical technology one could look back in time a few minutes ago to see who committed a crime!

Though I'm not aiming for practicality, imagine an outpost on Mars with a "magical" telescope that could see a person on the earth with crystal clarity. At certain points in their orbits, the distance between Mars and Earth is 54,600,000 km. Since I really don't care about exact math, I 'll just round the speed of light to 300,000 kilometers per second. The answer you'll get is 182 seconds or a little over 3 minutes for light to reach Mars from here. Our "magical" telescope would be able to watch whatever is happening on earth from three minutes ago. Very cool.

Its quite an outlandish concept, but the concept of seeing being able to see who committed a murder that way is still pretty cool.

reply to post by Slate


That would imply that the time on earth is exactly that of mars. Also that communication was instantaneous. No real time delay. The concept is neat and begs to have the question answered "What exactly is time and is it a constant?"

Let's say we could see 3 minutes into the past. Will the past have already occurred on earth and already be too late to stop it?
Intriguing.

I would also bring up the theory of retro causality to make this more practical.
Theoretically speaking of course.

[edit on 7/3/2009 by reticledc]

Of course we all know time is relative so there would be a lot of questions and what ifs. However we must remember that such phenomenon as I described happens all the time. Since how far back you can see in time is based on distance, we see back in time all the time. The only difference is we are seeing back in time in such small increments of time that we most likely are not even capable of measuring. A better example would be sound. We often "hear back in time" as well. This is a much easier concept to understand since sound travels at such a lesser speed. I guess my point is that we are always looking back in time, but we need to increase the distance to see farther into the past. Maybe one day we will get a satellite far enough into space with some magical lenses that could watch JFK assassination...


[edit on 7-3-2009 by Slate]

reply to post by CBS01


that's an awesome idea/concept. coudl be the basis of something functional somehow, someday...

hey.. maybe someone in the future is using one to watch US right now..

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welcome!

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[edit on 7-3-2009 by prevenge]

then again you have to take into consideration all the space dust to "see through"..

and then there's the hypothetical "wormhole" that could see from one point in space to another.. through a mere fold in timepace.. where you wouldn't need to use telescopoes.. just a "hole" throguh time....

LHC anyone?


[edit on 7-3-2009 by prevenge]

A great idea you have, and I agree as well that according to current theories it would work. There is however one big problem in practical application of this idea.

Lets assume that we have a technology to actualy travel at light speed. Now, we send a mirror to some distant location which is 68 million light years away. It would take 68 million years for that mirror to reach that destination, which would mean that in 68 million years we would be able to look our _current_ time reflected from that mirror. Therefore it would be impossible to see dinosaurs from that mirror unless we are able to travel faster than light.

I'm also a bit skeptical whether we could actually manage to get such a clear picture of earth from that distance to make it anywhere near practical.

The mirror would have to be apx 33 million light years away because light would have to travel to the mirror and back again.

reply to post by CBS01



As someone else said, as of right now it wouldn't be practically feasible to actually accomplish, but that is a truly "COOL" theory. I guess that is what all the "aliens" are seeing of us... Dinosaurs, Cavemen...our most scary and civilized periods. No wonder they want to do cattle mutilations!

Originally posted by Fromabove
The mirror would have to be apx 33 million light years away because light would have to travel to the mirror and back again.

No, then it woud reflect light that has been travelling 33 million years from earth.

Originally posted by reticledc
reply to post by Slate

 

Let's say we could see 3 minutes into the past. Will the past have already occurred on earth and already be too late to stop it?
Intriguing.


[edit on 7/3/2009 by reticledc]

Wouldn't it have to happen in order for you to see it happen?

This makes my head hurt.

Theoretically it would work. But to see into the past enough to where it's even noticeable would require the mirror to be quite distant. And you'd need a hell of a telescope.

Star and flag to you, sir, I think that's a rather brilliant idea.

Perhaps, as our propulsion technologies continue to advance, we could send an un-manned probe carring a large mirror, which we could then look at through a telescope and get steroscopic readings telling us interesting things about the Earth at that time.

I somehow doubt we'd be able to get a great picture of the Earth, but a lot can be said by wavelengths and reflection. But if - purly imagination here - our telescopes advance to a high degree as well we may be able to see more.

Oh, and if you did this, you would not be able to see back to when the dinosaurs existed unless the mirror had been launched at that time (and at light speed).

Imagine looking down a telescopic lens into the universe and watching the crucifixion.

Nice idea!

I wonder though.. looking back in time this way, you have the "time" part of it down, but what about the "space" part. Would looking back in time through a telescope let us see the earth in its past form, or would we merely see the SPACE where the earth was? Millions of years ago, the earth wasn't anywhere close to the position it is now in space.. So even if we could see back in time, the space part of it would be tricky I'd think..

P.S.
This is my first post here. Hi! Long time reader, first time poster. =)