and still looks pretty big, I was wondering how bright and big would it look if you were just a few thousands of miles away from it in space? Any pictures online that would show it?
Why don't they send hubble near it to take a picture of it that close?
2006-11-09 07:28:57 · 8 answers · asked by newyorkchess2005 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
50,000? I can't believe how big it is. That is shocking.
2006-11-09 07:43:56 · update #1
The brightness and apparent size of the Sun would be inversely proportional to the square of one's distance from it. If you moved to 2000 miles from the Sun, about 1/50,000 the Earth's distance from it, the Sun would appear 2.5 billion times larger (in apparent area, but only 50,000 times wider) and brighter. Hubble can't be moved close to the Sun because Hubble orbits the Earth at a fixed orbital radius. In addition, Hubble and most other astronomical observation tools cannot be pointed at the Sun, because the light output would overwhelm their sensors. Only a very few devices have been designed to observe the Sun.
2006-11-09 07:32:54 · answer #1 · answered by DavidK93 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The geometry to figure out how big the sun would appear isn't too hard, actually. Let r be the radius of the sun (about 400,000 miles) and x be a variable giving your distance from the sun. Then, draw two tangent lines to the opposite sides of the sun, and you can see that the angle of the sky occupied by the sun would be:
2 * sin (r/r+x).
For example, if you are 400,000 miles from the sun, it would take up 60 degrees in the sky, meaning it would look pretty darn big. (Horizon to horizon would be 180 degrees.)
Also, I think it WOULD be true that the heat would increase by the square of the distance, i.e. ten times as close means 100 times as much energy from the sun. So, at 400,000 miles it would be roasting hot.
2006-11-09 09:55:38 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hi. You have some good answers, but the first one from DavidK93 seems out of proportion. The Sun is about 30 or so arc minutes in apparent size. (About the same as the Moon.) The largest the Sun would appear is about 180 degrees of arc if you were on it's surface. This means it would appear 360 times as wide. The AREA would be half the sky but not 50,000 times as large. The other answers addressed your other questions.
2006-11-09 07:58:10 · answer #3 · answered by Cirric 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If Hubble(or anything else) goes near it turns into vapor.
It is indeed something to wonder about.
[Quran 41:37]
"Among His Signs are the Night and the Day, and the Sun and the Moon. Do not prostrate to the sun and the moon, but prostrate to Allah, Who created them, if it is Him ye wish to serve."
2006-11-09 07:54:09 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, it would look like what we see now, except much bigger and much brighter.
Hubble is locked in orbit around Earth and can't move any further away than it is now. It doesn't have any onboard rocket fuel, so all it can do is point different directions as it orbits.
2006-11-09 07:33:26 · answer #5 · answered by furball17 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If you were a few thousand miles from the Sun the temperature would be a million degrees and your body would vaporize. If you do that can I have your computer.
2006-11-09 07:49:52 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
the sun gravtional force will pull the hubble in and the camera will
burn up.
besides being that close would be very very hot
2006-11-09 07:37:57 · answer #7 · answered by nobleicus 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Searing heat and total combustion might be the answer.
2006-11-09 07:40:23 · answer #8 · answered by Answergirl 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋