Application Update

Light this thing takes hundreds of years to reach the Earth

The telescope is an instrument that serves to collect observations of electromagnetic radiation. In this modern age, there are different types of telescopes that have been created humans, no optical telescopes, X-ray telescope, an infrared telescope, and much more.

The telescope can detect light from very distant objects such as stars and galaxies. But, did you know that the light we see in a telescope is the light of the past?

According to Alex Firth, et al, in his book 100 Things to Know About Science, a light that can be captured by the telescope is the light from stars or galaxies a few months ago, or even a few hundred years ago. Their light can only be seen by telescope after traveling very far away from where she was.

Here are 6 stars or planets that require travel a very long time so that the light visible from Earth.

1. Polaris

Polaris is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor. This star is very close to the north pole, so many who call the North Star. Polaris light visible at night from the earth is the light of 430 years ago. Some scientists calculate the distance to Polaris with the earth about 434 light-years away.

This star is composed of a double star, which consists of a large main star, 2 small star, and two further components of the primary star. The star was discovered by William Herchel in 1780.

2. Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy
Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy is small irregular galaxies and has about 1 billion stars. This galaxy is the nearest neighbor of the Milky Way galaxy, which is located about 25,000 light-years from our solar system. Light from the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy can only be seen from Earth about 25,000 years.

3. Daneb

Next is the star Deneb or often referred to as Alpha Cygni. The light that reaches the earth is 1,550 light years ago. In fact, this star is one of the most distant star that can be seen without the use of tools. This star including the brightest star in the Milky Way galaxy.

It has a range which varies with the earth. The closest distance reached 1,340 light years from Earth, and up to 1,840 light-years away.

4. Large Magellanic Cloud

Large Magellanic Cloud is a nearby galaxy third of the earth, after the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy and Sagittarius Dwarf Spherodal. Galaxy is referred to as the brightest galaxies in this world.

The distance is very far from Earth is 158 200 light-years away, making the light that reaches the earth is also very long. If we see the light from these galaxies, then the fact that light is the light of 163 thousand years ago.

Some of the stars we see now may have no or burned, because maybe starlight we see the light of many years ago.