An Interesting thing About Light

[Rhondazvous]

I don't think that's how light works. Once a photon leaves its star they are separate and the photon will carry on regardless of the fate of what ever source it was created by. That's why, as Cthulhu Dreaming mentioned, it takes time until the last photon from a dying star reaches us and it disappears from our sky. So they aren't connected, the photon and the star, the light of a star is just a continuous stream of photons.
And when the star dies its last photons are sent out and it's sort of like unplugging your vacuum cleaner and rolling up the chord, it takes time before the end of the chord reaches the vacuum cleaner. Basically the earth is a vacuum cleaner and stars are just millions of chords that may or may not be rolling up right now and we won't know it until the final photon reaches us.

You are correct about the last photons leaving the star. They do travel the same distance and take the same amount of time to get here. I'm talking about the photons that are already here. They don't cease to exist. That's why we have the cosmic microwave background. But I do still hold that they cease to be visible light the moment the star dies, just like visible light disappears in a room when you turn the switch off.

[vorlon13]

The light photons from the star that are already on their way here when the star dies (goes out) do not 'know' their parent star has died and continue on their merry way for us to share and enjoy.

Most of the light the Hubble Space Telescope is collecting and making pictures of objects 10 billion light years away is light from big bright stars that 'died' billions of years ago.

[Rhondazvous]

The light photons from the star that are already on their way here when the star dies (goes out) do not 'know' their parent star has died and continue on their merry way for us to share and enjoy.

Most of the light the Hubble Space Telescope is collecting and making pictures of objects 10 billion light years away is light from big bright stars that 'died' billions of years ago.

Touché

Another perfectly good idea bites the dust.

[Jackalope]

I don't think that's how light works. Once a photon leaves its star they are separate and the photon will carry on regardless of the fate of what ever source it was created by. That's why, as Cthulhu Dreaming mentioned, it takes time until the last photon from a dying star reaches us and it disappears from our sky. So they aren't connected, the photon and the star, the light of a star is just a continuous stream of photons.
And when the star dies its last photons are sent out and it's sort of like unplugging your vacuum cleaner and rolling up the chord, it takes time before the end of the chord reaches the vacuum cleaner. Basically the earth is a vacuum cleaner and stars are just millions of chords that may or may not be rolling up right now and we won't know it until the final photon reaches us.

You are correct about the last photons leaving the star. They do travel the same distance and take the same amount of time to get here. I'm talking about the photons that are already here. They don't cease to exist. That's why we have the cosmic microwave background. But I do still hold that they cease to be visible light the moment the star dies, just like visible light disappears in a room when you turn the switch off.

Bolding mine.

They don't cease to be visible light when the star dies, they cease being visible light when they are absorbed by interactions with matter (i.e. converted to energy).

Same with visible light. Photons are in motion. When those photons leave the light bulb, they emit light until they are absorbed by the walls, etc upon which time they are no longer photons.

[Cyberman]

Speed of light, nothing - dark is waaay faster. Not only is dark already there before light can even think of getting there, it can see the light coming and move out of the way.