Whatever we see is basically based on the light that hits our eyes, right? When we look at the Moon we are looking at the Moon as it was couple of seconds ago, as the light takes some seconds (~2 seconds I believe) to reach us. In a way aren't we ALWAYS seeing the past as, no matter how close we are to something, we can never be at distance 0. Am I wrong in thinking about it like that?
[Physics] Has everything we see happened in the past
causalityspeed-of-lighttimevisible-light
Best Answer
That is technically correct. Since the speed of light is finite, it takes time for light from any object in the universe to reach us, even the Moon which is fairly close. For things on Earth, the distances involved are very small compared to the speed of light and so we effectively see thing "instantly".
The moon is about 1.2 light seconds away so we're seeing the surface of the moon as it was 1.2 seconds ago, still effectively instantly.
The sun in about 8.3 light minutes away and things get further away and more distant in time as you go out.