If a person was in orbit in space on the bright side of the earth, would that person be able to see...?

Question

the stars and planets or would it washed out by the glare of the sun? Forgive me of my ignorance.

Answer 1

Facing the earth from a low earth orbit of approximately 250 miles (shuttle and space station) one can see the earth clearly but not much else. Facing away from earth, stars are clearly visible unless the sun is in view, in which case the sun would cause the pupils in the eyes to contract, making the stars dimmer, but still visible.

There is no significant atmosphere in low earth orbit, so dispersion of light is not an issue as it is on the surface of the earth.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

It works th same up there as it does down here. Your pupils would become smaller because of the intense brightness and you would no longer be able to see the stars. Many people consider the first manned moon landing a hoax because there were no stars in the images. The same holds true for a camera. If the shutter stayed open long enough to see the stars in the background all of the rest of the picture would have been way too brite or washed out!

Answer 3

The sun would be an awful lot brighter but since atmospheric optical hindrances are minimal ,he would still be able to see the stars and planets, earth will look crystal clear .

If he looks at the sun he would definitely be washed out by the glare of the sun(temporarily blinded)

If he is out of the exosphere (a layer of our atmosphere) about 400 miles or more from the earth the celestial bodies will be more clearer.

Speaking in simple terms what you would see when in space on being on the bright side would be radically different from what tou see from earth on a normal day staring at the sky.

Answer 4

Additionally to what cfpops said--if you were taking a picture (like of your space shuttle) you would have to use a short exposure due to all the light--and that would make it appear that there were no stars in the background!