<p>Our Sun moves through the galaxy much slower than light does. So the light that was emitted last year by the Sun is already very far away from the Earth. Therefore, we don't receive any light from (i.e. we don't see) the Sun as is was last year. </p>

<p>As an analogy, image walking along and shooting bullets in all directions. The bullets are going much faster than you can go by walking, so you won't ever get hit by your own bullets. But someone walking next to you can get hit by the bullets you are shooting out. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-16T13:40:47.743Z
Our speed doesn't really matter. Even if we _did_ move close to the speed of light, light would still move at the speed of light wrt. us and our position.
pela
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-16T15:38:48.053Z
Our exact speed doesn't matter, but the fact that we can't move faster than light does. In the analogy, if you walk faster in a circle than the bullets go in a straight line, the bullets could still catch up to you.
usernumber
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-16T17:38:21.480Z
We see the Sun as it was about 8 minutes ago as that's the time taken for light to cover the roughly 147 million km. If we wanted to see the Sun further back in time, we would have to be further away as we are for the other stars
astrosnapper
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-18T04:57:18.090Z
You just have to go further away before you start looking.
tomc
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-18T08:30:56.447Z
@tomc But we can't go further fast enough to be able to actually see the sun as it was a long time ago.
usernumber
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-18T09:00:32.720Z
How can this be upvoted?
Alchimista
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-16T11:03:26.080Z
2020-01-16T11:03:26.080Z
usernumber
<p>Our <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun#Orbit_and_location" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Sun is orbiting the center of the Milky Way galaxy</a>. So many years ago, it was at a different location from where it is now.
In addition, we are observing stars and exoplanets as they were many years ago, for example stars like <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2018/02/07/why-looking-at-the-stars-is-a-look-back-in-time/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Sirius.</a>. </p>

<p>In this case, why can't we see our own Sun in its orbital path a few hundred years back. 
Is there any specific reason why we can't see/observe our Sun from the past?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-16T10:56:51.060Z
I made a few modifications. Feel free to edit it again if you think I left anything out.
usernumber
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-18T08:58:30.123Z
We see it from its past, as it was about 8 minutes brfire. It is the same as for Sirius, just the distance and thus the time taken by its image to arrive is short.
Alchimista
<the-sun><observational-astronomy><space-time>
Why we can't see our Sun as it was a few years ago?
Arunkumar Chandrasekaran
# Why we can't see our Sun as it was a few years ago?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-01-16)

Our [Sun is orbiting the center of the Milky Way galaxy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun#Orbit_and_location). So many years ago, it was at a different location from where it is now.
In addition, we are observing stars and exoplanets as they were many years ago, for example stars like [Sirius.](https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2018/02/07/why-looking-at-the-stars-is-a-look-back-in-time/).

In this case, why can't we see our own Sun in its orbital path a few hundred years back.
Is there any specific reason why we can't see/observe our Sun from the past?

**Tags:** the-sun, observational-astronomy, space-time
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I made a few modifications. Feel free to edit it again if you think I left anything out.  
> **username_2**: We see it from its past, as it was about 8 minutes brfire. It is the same as for Sirius, just the distance and thus the time taken by its image to arrive is short.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-01-16. Score: 11 | Accepted answer

Our Sun moves through the galaxy much slower than light does. So the light that was emitted last year by the Sun is already very far away from the Earth. Therefore, we don't receive any light from (i.e. we don't see) the Sun as is was last year.

As an analogy, image walking along and shooting bullets in all directions. The bullets are going much faster than you can go by walking, so you won't ever get hit by your own bullets. But someone walking next to you can get hit by the bullets you are shooting out.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Our speed doesn't really matter. Even if we _did_ move close to the speed of light, light would still move at the speed of light wrt. us and our position.  
> **username_1**: Our exact speed doesn't matter, but the fact that we can't move faster than light does. In the analogy, if you walk faster in a circle than the bullets go in a straight line, the bullets could still catch up to you.  
> **username_4**: We see the Sun as it was about 8 minutes ago as that's the time taken for light to cover the roughly 147 million km. If we wanted to see the Sun further back in time, we would have to be further away as we are for the other stars  
> **username_5**: You just have to go further away before you start looking.  
> **username_1**: @tomc But we can't go further fast enough to be able to actually see the sun as it was a long time ago.  
> **username_2**: How can this be upvoted?  

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