If you look at a star that is 14 light years away , how long Ago did the light you are seeing leave the star?

2 Answers
Mar 12, 2018

Possibly close to zero time

Explanation:

For a beam of light traveling at light speed time does not exist.

According to the Lorenez transformation based on Einstein's theory of relativity at light speed time stops. So for the light beam from the time the light left the star to when the light entered the gravitational field of the solar system no time passed.

"Something traveling at light speed through space with have no speed left for motion through time ... There is no passage of time at light speed " The Elegant Universe Brian Greene page 51 1999

Using distance in light years as a measure of time is a fallacy.

Mar 12, 2018

14 years

Explanation:

David's answer above, if i am not mistake is for things traveling at the speed of light. So for the photons from that star it took no time to reach the Earth, but for the observer 14 years has passed since that photon left that star.