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daveinmd13 t1_j6dq5ks wrote

Reply to comment by Waddensky in What if our sun was a part of another constellation on another planet? by smilingpike31

How far away would it visible - assuming a planet has an atmosphere like earth and whatever alien had similar vision to humans?

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Waddensky t1_j6eevak wrote

The Sun has an absolute magnitude of 4.8. The (human) naked-eye limiting magnitude is 6.5. The Sun would be visible to the naked eye up to a distance of around 70 light-years.

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takadimi5000 t1_j6fg5wy wrote

Wow. That is a very sobering and existential thought.

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jdubbrude t1_j6fh7rf wrote

Can we detect stars that are more than 70 light years away from us? Do telescopes make more stars visible from further away?

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grog23 t1_j6fqtc8 wrote

If they have a higher magnitude we can see them with the naked eye

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dumdodo t1_j6g04is wrote

The Orion Nebula, one of the "stars" in the constellation Orion, is 1400 light years away.

Different types of stars have different magnitudes, and can be visible at different distances, as do other objects, like nebulas.

And yes, with a telescope, you can see numerous additional stars. The Milky Way becomes a boring group of stars when viewed through a telescope, because they are no longer tightly packed.

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jdubbrude t1_j6iwqm4 wrote

I think it’s crazy that here on earth I could be dead buried for 70 million years but someone on another planet can see our planter as it is today. As if I’m still alive. Pretty wild

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Ok-Wrongdoer-9647 t1_j6dslrd wrote

Depends on the size of their pupil and sensitivity of their eye equivalent features.. if they have a telescope then 5 billion light years because that’s how old the sun is… if their pupils were massive I believe they could technically see it with the naked eye but it would be incredibly tiny.. they just need to capture enough light from the source to be visible

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AvcalmQ t1_j6e0pou wrote

...Now I want big pupils. Gimme them Na'avi eyeballs and I'll just stay home during the day.

EDIT: To any ET potentially reading this, I am not looking to steal your eyes.

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TheZigRat t1_j6evr8g wrote

That is nice to know, we have 3 nice large ones that work as a compound eye unit

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