Originally Posted by
silentjourneyhome
Heard a debate on the radio last weekend. They were saying that if you lived on a planet 130 light years away and you were looking today at the earth through a very powerful telescope, would you be able to see the Victorians going about their business? You might even see Queen Victoria?
Based upon this theory the possibilities are endless. Find a planet 157 light years away and you could watch the American Civil War but is the theory correct.
To find out I contacted someone in the Sheffield Astronomical Society and they posted the query on their website (btw for anyone interested in astronomy their fortnightly meetings/lectures are excellent and are only £3 for members to attend).
Their expert replied that if you had a telescope powerful enough then you would see today whatever was happening on earth at a time equivalent to the distance in light years away that you were observing from.
So anyone observing the earth from a planet just over 93 light years away would be able to see Sheffield United playing in the F A Cup Final. The only problem is that it would take another 93 light years for them to tell us that we had won!
How many light years away would you like to be and what would you like to observe?