system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
If we had a telescope strong enough to see the surface of a planet 5 lightyears away, would the events be taking place clearly in real-time, effectively looking at the past?

If so, we should put a giant mirror in space that faces us so we can look at it and view our past.
gpt
You are correct. If we had a telescope strong enough we would be "looking into the past" of another planet.

Regarding your mirror idea, if we placed the mirror 5 light years away, flying at the speed of light we would be able to put the mirror up in 5 years, and have to wait another 5 years for the light to reach us again. We could only see 10 years back, as far back as the shuttle leaving to put up the mirror.