by Sarah Fecht  On Popular Science Online:

Glance at the stars, glance back in time.

When we look at stars in the night sky, we’re actually looking back in time. Since it takes a while for light to cross the vast emptiness of the universe—even at a blistering 186,000 miles per second—we’re seeing each celestial object as it looked eons ago. But what if those stars looked back at our pale-blue dot? Here’s what the astral peeping Toms would see.

Earths past timeline

1. Trappist-1

From a potentially habitable seven-planet system
DISTANCE: 39 light-years

WHAT’S GOING ON, on Earth:

Sweden becomes the first nation to ban aerosol sprays (over concerns that they damage the ozone layer). Meanwhile, Americans boogie to disco, in vitro fertilization produces its first human baby, and Space Invaders invades arcades.

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Staring into the Earth’s past

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