Naked Science Forum
Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: AllenG on 22/11/2008 03:10:51
-
I think Hipparcos 5926 (V762) in Cassiopeia, 16,308 light-years away and magnitude 5.84 is the farthest star visible to the naked eye.
What is the closest star (which would have a very low magnitude) not visible to the naked eye?
Thanks,
--Allen
-
Proxima Centauri (Latin proxima: meaning 'next to' or 'nearest to') is a red dwarf star approximately 4.2 light-years distant in the constellation of Centaurus. It was discovered in 1915 by Robert Innes, the Director of the Union Observatory in South Africa. The star may be part of the Alpha Centauri system, and it is the nearest star to the Sun ... Red dwarfs such as Proxima Centauri are far too faint to be seen with the naked eye... It has an apparent visual magnitude of 11 [actually variable 13-11], so a telescope with an aperture of at least 8 cm (3.1 in.) is needed to observe this star even under ideal viewing conditions—under clear, dark skies with Proxima Centauri well above the horizon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxima_Centauri
-
Thanks RD.
I forgot that Alpha Centauri was a multiple star.
-
What is the closest star (which would have a very low magnitude)
Distance and magnitude are not automatically related. A black sheet of paper would have a very high magnitude, a supernova at great distance would have very low magnitude.
Bright = Low magnitude
Dim = High magnitude
(Very bright can be negative magnitude; it's a logarithmic scale)
Relative magnitude = what you see
Absoulte magnitude = magnitude of star if it were 10 parsec away.
-
The sun at night......
-
Daily eclipse?