Are there stars that we don't ever see, because they are hidden by the sun etc.?

Answer 1

There are millions of stars that we do not see. Either because they are hidden or because they are so far away!

Answer 2

There are stars that we don't see because:

1. They are hidden, for example, behind the centre of our Milky Way Galaxy or behind dense clouds of dust called dark nebulae
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsehead_nebula
These we will not see, unless we 'move' (e.g., travel or send a telescope many light years away).

2. They are too faint to be seen (too far, too faint, combination of both); these we could see one day it we get big enough telescopes in space.

3. They turned on too recently and the light they sent out has not reached us yet (we'll see them when the light reaches us)

4. Far enough away, we see galaxies, not individual stars. Still, the light is from the stars of the galaxies. However, if the universe really is infinite and expanding (and that appears to be the kind of universe we have), then anything that is too far is "expanding away" faster than light and we cannot see it. It is not the object that is moving faster than the speed of light; it is the "quantity of space" between the object and us that is expanding too fast.

There may be other reasons that I can't think of right now. However, I have assumed that a 'star' is an object that sends out light: a black hole is not a star, a black dwarf is not a star.

If you want to count a black dwarf as a star (because it has enough mass to be a star and it was, once, a star) then it becomes example number 5.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_dwarf

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As wizard points out, if a star is dead, then we can't see it (but, in my definition, I have assumed that this is no longer a star).

Answer 3

No, no stars are hidden behind the Sun, because as Earth orbits the Sun and we get to see what is on every side of it.

Answer 4

Because we move once completely around the Sun every year, there can be no stars hidden behind the Sun.

Answer 5

No, eventually any star that is visible, will become visible. The Sun is but one star in the sky, just much closer than the rest.

Answer 6

Not because of the sun. We move around the sun during the year, so different stars are near it at different times of year.

There are stars we can't see because they're too far away, or because there is too much dust in front of them.

Answer 7

NOt because of the sun, but most stars are invisible to humans as they are not bringht enogh. Advanced telescopes cans see them.

Answer 8

not exactly. as the earth revolves around the sun anything which was on the "other side" would be in view at some point .

Answer 9

Billions and billions and billions and bill....etc - but not because of the sun.

Answer 10

Hello Triffid.When we see the twinkle of a star, it has already died.So apart from the ones we don't see because of the sun, there are millions dead or dying.If we get to go to space perhaps we will see many more.