What is light years? I know what they say, it is how far light travels in a year. Thanks. Maybe that’s helpful like telling a beginner painter shading just means pressing harder with the pencil. Many things are discussed as if ordinary yet they are completely not ordinary. I read the largest body of water is not on any planet but exists as water vapour out there in space a zillion light years ago. It was “ago” that made me seek help.

Me: If something is light years away does that imply it is in the past?

Grok: Yes, if something is light years away, it implies you are observing it as it was in the past. A light year is the distance light travels in one year, about 9.46 trillion kilometers. Light takes time to travel. When you see an object that is 10 light years away, you are seeing the light that left it 10 years ago. Thus, you’re observing the object as it existed 10 years in the past.

Me: How are we to make sense of light years being from the past? If we see it now then how can it be understood to not exist?

Grok: Seeing something light years away means you’re observing its past, not that it doesn’t exist now. The light you see is real and present, but it carries an image of the object from when the light was emitted. This is just how the universe works due to the finite speed of light and vast distances, giving us a natural time machine to view cosmic history.

Me: So, when I listen to Glenn Gould or Sister Rosetta Tharpe I am hearing their light years.

Grok: I am he as you are he, as you are me and we are all together.