How can light travel for billions of years?

In empty space, the wave does not dissipate (grow smaller) no matter how far it travels, because the wave is not interacting with anything else. This is why light from distant stars can travel through space for billions of light-years and still reach us on earth.

How does light energy always travel?

Light’s formal name is electromagnetic radiation. All light shares three properties. It can travel through a vacuum. It always moves at a constant speed, known as the speed of light, which is 300,000,000 meters (186,000 miles) per second in a vacuum.

How does light travel without a medium?

We know that light doesn’t need a medium through which to travel because the speed of light is experimentally constant: independent of the movement of the source or detector or the direction in which it travels. Light contrasts with sound, which travels through the air (or some other material medium).

How does light travel and how far does it travel?

Light travels as a wave. But unlike sound waves or water waves, it does not need any matter or material to carry its energy along. Nothing travels faster than light energy. It speeds through the vacuum of space at 186,400 miles (300,000 km) per second.

How does light travel through space without a medium?

These changing fields form electromagnetic waves. Electromagnetic waves differ from mechanical waves in that they do not require a medium to propagate. This means that electromagnetic waves can travel not only through air and solid materials, but also through the vacuum of space.

How long does it take for light to travel billions of light-years?

Consequently, it takes billions of years for light to travel billions of light-years through space. From our vantage point here on Earth we can see light from stars that are billions of light-years away.

How far can light travel through space?

This is why light from distant stars can travel through space for billions of light-years and still reach us on earth. However, light can also travel within some materials, like glass and water.

How does light travel through the universe?

Light just keeps going and going until it bumps into something. Then it can either be reflected or absorbed. Astronomers have detected some light that has been traveling for more that 12 billion years, close to the age of the universe. Light has some interesting properties. It comes in lumps called photons.

How did light get to Earth?

Mature creation — God created the light en route to the Earth. CDK — The speed of light is not constant but has been slowing down since creation. Anisotropic Synchrony Conventions — The one-way speed of light is impossible to measure, so light could have traveled to Earth at infinitely fast speeds.