Perceptions - Astronomy's Strange Observance of TIME

When we're riding in a car, we have the choice of peering
either forward into the "future" or rearward into the "past".

Isn't it awesome to think that we do not have this choice
when peering out into space? Astronomy is encumbered
by the fact that every direction we look, we can only be
peering into the past.

Even when our sister planet Selene is at last quarter and
"out in front of us" in our fast-paced spin/revolution 'round
the Sun, Selene's reflected light, showing half of its surface
which faces us, takes about a second-and-a-half to reach
us. So even when Selene "leads" the Earth around the
Sun, we are seeing the Moon as it WAS 1½ seconds ago.

So many of the photons of eons past are still becoming
available to us for observation, while many more passed by
us long ago and even recently... and will never be available
to us again.

I often wonder where they are going, and if anyone else is
out there to see, observe and to study them? And i also
wonder what it might be like if we could still see these
photons, this energy, which has passed by us on the way
to parts unknown... and unknowable.

All this gives new meaning to the idea of not being able to
see nor foretell the future, doesn't it?

happy days and...
starry starry nights!

--
Twinkle twinkle little star,
I don't wonder what you are,
What i *really* want to see...
Is there someone there like me?

http://www.seti.org/

Indelibly yours,
Paine http://www.savethechildren.org/
http://www.painellsworth.net/