Math problem for those interested in astronomy
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From: vincent64 on 23 Feb 2010 02:04 If we were living near the center of our galaxy (the Milky Way) instead of in a remote suburb, would the night sky (illuminated by stars) be as bright as the day sky (illuminated by our sun)? The density of stars is 100,000 times higher in the center of our galaxy than where we are now. Also, closest stars (nearest neighbors) are about 4 light years away from where we are now, and generate light that is perceived as being 10,000 times fainter than the sun. Obviously, if we were living in the middle of our galaxy, the closest stars would be much much much closer to us, well below 0.1 light years away from us. My guess is that the sky would be so bright - day and night - there would always be more light than if a small atomic bomb would be exploding 1 mile away from you, every second. Is this a correct assumption? URL: http://www.analyticbridge.com/group/mathandcomputerscienceproblems/forum/topics/math-problem-for-those
From: Peter Webb on 23 Feb 2010 02:22
"vincent64(a)yahoo.com" <datashaping(a)gmail.com> wrote in message news:fb4bfd95-52a0-4dfa-af22-c6cc153decc2(a)t34g2000prm.googlegroups.com... > If we were living near the center of our galaxy (the Milky Way) > instead of in a remote suburb, would the night sky (illuminated by > stars) be as bright as the day sky (illuminated by our sun)? > > The density of stars is 100,000 times higher in the center of our > galaxy than where we are now. Also, closest stars (nearest neighbors) > are about 4 light years away from where we are now, and generate light > that is perceived as being 10,000 times fainter than the sun. > > Obviously, if we were living in the middle of our galaxy, the closest > stars would be much much much closer to us, well below 0.1 light years > away from us. My guess is that the sky would be so bright - day and > night - there would always be more light than if a small atomic bomb > would be exploding 1 mile away from you, every second. > > Is this a correct assumption? > > URL: > http://www.analyticbridge.com/group/mathandcomputerscienceproblems/forum/topics/math-problem-for-those Distance to sun from earth: 8 light minutes Distance from star at 0.1 light years = 60 x 24 x 365 x 0.1 = 52,560 light minutes => Star at 0.1 light years = 6,500 times as far away as our sun Light falls off as square of distance. Times brighter our Sun appears compared to if it was 0.1 light years away = (6,500)^2 = 40 million times. To achieve the same brightness on earth as we get from our Sun, we would need 80 million stars like the Sun at 0.1 light years (doubled because only half are visible). Hence short answer: NO. |