2006-09-14 08:28:13 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Actually, the question is not really how far the eye can see. The eye can see anything from the visible light spectrum that reaches it, assuming there are no complications with the person's eye.
The question is not how far can the eye see, but how far the light can travel to reach the eye. We can see stars billions of miles away because of the amount of light that they give off. But we wouldn't be able to see a kitten on a road 2 miles away, even if we had line of sight. Part of this is due to the resolution which our eyes can process, the other part of this is due to the fact that light travels as a wave, and is affected by other light, atmospheric conditions, and many other things. So the light reflected off of the kitten two miles away is not strong enough to actually make it all of the way to our eye with enough resolution to even identify it's presence. Things such as binoculars refract that light back into focus again as it reaches us, enabling us to see the light once again.
2006-09-14 09:33:33 · answer #1 · answered by GodsKnite 3 · 1⤊ 5⤋
Provide the eye was in good shape otherwise, the farthest thing viewable is the called M-31, the Andromeda Galaxy. It is about 2 1/2 million light years away.
Objects farther away than this are unresolved to the naked, unaided eye.
2006-09-14 15:51:12 · answer #2 · answered by Richard 7 · 6⤊ 0⤋
The farthest visible objects in the night sky are about 15 billion light years away, so that is currently the limit of human vision. As the universe expands, this will continue to increase.
However, if you are wondering how far away the horizon is, it depends on the height of your eyes. Someone in a tall building can see farther than someone lying on the ground.
This website http://www.boatsafe.com/tools/horizon.htm includes a calculator that will tell you how far away the horizon is depending on how high your eyes are. It assumes that you are on level ground (it's designed primarily for boating), and that no hills block your view.
2006-09-14 15:40:45 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
There is no limit to how far you can see, but there is a limit to your eyes resolution! You can see stars a million light years a way but you can't tell me the stars resolution!
2006-09-14 15:33:35 · answer #4 · answered by Mango S 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As far as the naked eye, depends whose eye it is
2006-09-14 15:32:03 · answer #5 · answered by timone 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
the answer is infinite the naked eye can see stars/planets that do not exist anymore.
2006-09-14 17:21:47 · answer #6 · answered by melas 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
For all intensive purposes, there is no limit to how far you can see, as long as what you're looking at is big enough.
2006-09-14 15:48:28 · answer #7 · answered by chris_ninety1 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Millions of light years. Look up at night.
2006-09-14 15:36:53 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
As far as the horizon
2006-09-14 15:29:56 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
infinity... so theoretically we can see everything, as long as the light source is bright enough for our eyes to notice it from a distance.
2006-09-15 13:49:56 · answer #10 · answered by shekum 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋