we could only see the things in space as they were in the past,上下文描述的是宇宙之大,我们能看到的东西其实已经是过去的东西了,在这句话中as they were in the past,as怎么翻译比较好?as引导的是不是方式状语从句?
此处的as 是连词,意思是in the way in which(照⋯方式)在这句话中充当一个方式状语。直译:我们能看到的宇宙中的东西都照着它们过去的方式存在。类似这样用法的如:Leave the papers as they are.