Can we track matter through time by looking at different depths in space?
$begingroup$
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?
space-time cosmic-microwave-background
asked 3 hours ago
dmoody256dmoody256
183
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.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
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?
space-time cosmic-microwave-background
asked 3 hours ago
dmoody256dmoody256
183
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.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
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?
space-time cosmic-microwave-background
asked 3 hours ago
dmoody256dmoody256
183
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
space-time cosmic-microwave-background
asked 3 hours ago
dmoody256dmoody256
183
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 3 hours ago
dmoody256dmoody256
183
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 3 hours ago
dmoody256dmoody256
183
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 3 hours ago
dmoody256dmoody256
183
asked 3 hours ago
dmoody256dmoody256
183
183
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.
add a comment |
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
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.
answered 2 hours ago
PM 2RingPM 2Ring
903410
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
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
2 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
2 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
1 hour ago
add a comment |
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.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
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
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
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.
answered 2 hours ago
PM 2RingPM 2Ring
903410
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
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
2 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
2 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
1 hour ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
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.
answered 2 hours ago
PM 2RingPM 2Ring
903410
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
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
2 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
2 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
1 hour ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
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.
answered 2 hours ago
PM 2RingPM 2Ring
903410
$endgroup$
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.
answered 2 hours ago
PM 2RingPM 2Ring
903410
edited 2 hours ago
answered 2 hours ago
PM 2RingPM 2Ring
903410
answered 2 hours ago
PM 2RingPM 2Ring
903410
answered 2 hours ago
PM 2RingPM 2Ring
903410
903410
$begingroup$
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
2 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
2 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
1 hour ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
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
2 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
2 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
1 hour 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
2 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
2 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
2 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
2 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
1 hour 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
1 hour ago
add a comment |
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.
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.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
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
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
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
