Explanation: A mere 2.5 million light-years away, the Andromeda Galaxy really is just next door as large galaxies go. So close, and spanning some 260,000 light-years, it took 11 different image fields from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) satellite’s telescope to produce this gorgeous portrait of…
Light travels at about 300,000 kilometers per second (186,000 miles per second) -- that's pretty fast. In our day-to-day lives, this doesn't pose a problem; the light entering my eyes from the display in the coffee shop window takes an immeasurably small period of time to get to me. Basically, I see the display as it is right now.
However, the distances in space are so vast that it takes more time for light to reach us.
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