[Vocabulary] will be able to see right back as far as we can go in the observable universe

[nininaz]

What does 'right back' mean?I don't know how can use these words related together, in the other words :
"see back" or "see right back" or "right back"?which one are coorect?
AND WHAT DOES "the very first stars that formed and when basically the Universe switched on" MEAN?

"...Dr Aprajita Virma, University of Oxford:The extremely large telescope will be able to see right back as far as we can go in the observable universe and look at the very first stars that formed and when basically the Universe switched on. For exoplanets, extra-solar planets, we'll be able to look at their atmospheres and compare them to the planets in our own solar system and potentially look for signs of life.
Once the rock and rubble form the mountain is cleared, construction will begin in earnest. The telescope will take 10 years to complete...."

Source:BBC

Thanks.

 

[charliedeut]

I can read it in two ways (pardon my inexactness, I'm no expert in this field):

1. The telescope will be able to see/observe very distant stars. These stars are, as it were, "behind" of what we can see with smaller telescopes.

2. The telescope will be doing, in fact, "time travel". The ELT will be used to trace really old stars (either very distant, or with a faint light because it was emitted a long time ago and it has become "degraded" as it traveled the universe). So it will be "looking back" to a distant time when those stars were really young and, according to some theories, closer in time to the "Big Bang". SO the ELT will be looking right (straight) back to that time.

 

[nininaz]

I can read it in two ways (pardon my inexactness, I'm no expert in this field):

1. The telescope will be able to see/observe very distant stars. These stars are, as it were, "behind" of what we can see with smaller telescopes.

2. The telescope will be doing, in fact, "time travel". The ELT will be used to trace really old stars (either very distant, or with a faint light because it was emitted a long time ago and it has become "degraded" as it traveled the universe). So it will be "looking back" to a distant time when those stars were really young and, according to some theories, closer in time to the "Big Bang". SO the ELT will be looking right (straight) back to that time.

Lots of thanks.
Did you mean 'back' here have a meaning as 'behind'?
How about the following meaning:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/back_2
further away in distance:
is that correct as well?

 

[charliedeut]

Yes, that is what I meant. And yes, Cambridge dictionary is usually a reliable source.

 

[BobK]

:up: There's one other point to address:

...AND WHAT DOES "the very first stars that formed and when basically the Universe switched on" MEAN?...

Carlos implicitly answered this question when he mentioned the Big Bang

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