Talk:Beetlejuice/@comment-10502460-20190705000147/@comment-35711173-20190705003413

In absolute time, the Betelgeuse would have gone nova centuries ago in our past, but since light travels at the speed of light our first knowledge of it would be in our future.

Imagine a rifle firing a bullet at 1,000 meters a second. Imagine it firing it at a target 1,000 meters away. That deadly bullet will be flying for a full second. [1]

Now scale the distance way, way, way up, to 650 light years. That bullet would be traveling for a very long time before it strikes it target. Even if the bullet were traveling at the speed of light, it would take 650 years.

[1] Note to shooters. We ignore the drop in speed of the bullet in air in this illustration.