From: gdpusch@NO.xnet.SPAM.com   
      
   brian.moore@intouch-ltd.com (download the whole internet) writes:   
      
   > OK, this is just a thought but... If the nearest star is 4 light years   
   > away then we are seeing light which is 4 years old?? So what we are   
   > looking at is the past??? Is this right?   
      
   Yes.   
      
      
   > If this is right.. then somewhere out there in the universe there is   
   > light from millions of years ago showing how the world began???   
      
   That would be BILLIONS, not mere millions, and it is true of =EVERY= point   
   in the Universe except the points that are inside dust clouds and other   
   opaque objects. No matter =WHAT= direction you look, there is light left   
   over from the Big Bang --- the problem is that it has been redshifted to   
   zero frequency.   
      
   Likewise, no matter which direction you look, there is light left over   
   from just a little bit _after_ the Big Bang. Since the Universe was very   
   uniform back then, and thick enough that it was effectively opaque, that   
   leftover light looks about the same in every direction: We call it the   
   "3 degrees Kelvin Cosmic Background Radiation," or "3 K CBR" for short.   
      
   For more on the 3 K CBR and the Early Universe, se Ned Wright's Cosmology   
   FAQ and Cosmology Tutorial: .   
      
      
   -- Gordon D. Pusch   
      
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