440 million years is a long time...when the supernova exploded, the earth was in the early Silurian period of the Paleozoic. The dinosaurs arose, flourished, and disappeared while this light was making its way here.
"440 million years is a long time...when the supernova exploded, the earth was in the early Silurian period of the Paleozoic. The dinosaurs arose, flourished, and disappeared while this light was making its way here."
There is an assumption built into that statement that that the speed of light (c = 299,792,458 m/s) was constant for last the 440 million years.... if the speed of light was slower in the past this number could be more...if the speed of light was faster in the past this number could be less....
There has been some intesting work on this subject the last few years.... first peer reviewed published by Setterfeild in 1987....
Setterfield and Norman SRI in July 1987
Dr. Joao Magueijo, a physicist at Imperial College London
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_Magueijo
Dr. John Barrow of Cambridge
Dr. Andy Albrecht of the University of California at Davis Dr. John Moffat of the University of Toronto
have all published work advocating their belief that light speed was much higher – as much as 10 to the 10th power faster in the past...
Variable speed of light theory:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_speed_of_light
http://www.setterfield.org