Can you see the Earth from the Sun?

[lazyitus]

Serious question.

Evidently, we can see the sun from the Earth AND from the moon, partly due to the fact that the Sun is so fking big.

Now then, IF you could stand on the Sun, could you see the Earth with the naked eye or is it too small to see without binoculars ?

[Plotloss]

Surely if you put a telescope on the sun to try to find the earth you'd merely create an enormous frikkin laser capable not only of burning flys to a crisp but entire celestial bodies?

[Snake the Sniper]

Not a chance with the naked eye. You'd stand a chance with a good pair of binos, but a telescope would probably be better.

[sleep envy]

I reckon you'd only be able to see it at nightime, othewise how else would you be able to see it through the telescope?

[littleandy0410]

Snake the Sniper said:

Not a chance with the naked eye. You'd stand a chance with a good pair of binos, but a telescope would probably be better.

You couldn't use binoculars, they'd be too hot to hold, you'd burn your hands.

[lazyitus]

sleep envy said:

I reckon you'd only be able to see it at nightime, othewise how else would you be able to see it through the telescope?

There aint no night time on the Sun though, is there ? The sun makes day, night time isn't on the menu.

[lazyitus]

littleandy0410 said:

Snake the Sniper said:

Not a chance with the naked eye. You'd stand a chance with a good pair of binos, but a telescope would probably be better.

You couldn't use binoculars, they'd be too hot to hold, you'd burn your hands.

Use oven gloves.

[sleep envy]

lazyitus said:

sleep envy said:

I reckon you'd only be able to see it at nightime, othewise how else would you be able to see it through the telescope?

There aint no night time on the Sun though, is there ? The sun makes day, night time isn't on the menu.

of course there is, it shuts down for essential maintenance every day between the hours of 10pm and 5am

[AlexanderV8]

lazyitus said:

sleep envy said:

I reckon you'd only be able to see it at nightime, othewise how else would you be able to see it through the telescope?

There aint no night time on the Sun though, is there ? The sun makes day, night time isn't on the menu.

And it's only the light from the Sun that would make the Earth visible, but that same light would shirley cause much too much pollution to make anything outside the solar flares visible.

[Asterix]

sleep envy said:

lazyitus said:

sleep envy said:

I reckon you'd only be able to see it at nightime, othewise how else would you be able to see it through the telescope?

There aint no night time on the Sun though, is there ? The sun makes day, night time isn't on the menu.

of course there is, it shuts down for essential maintenance every day between the hours of 10pm and 5am

Nah - more likely to be like our IT department who finds it funny to shut down the email server down from 9:15am to 9:14am the next morning any day that ends in a 'Y'.

[wendyg]

Very interesting question!

I have no real experience in this area, but given that the sun is 93 million miles away, and the earth is 22000 miles across (please feel free to correct those figures, but i hope they are ballpark) I doubt that an appropriately heatproofed observer would spot this tiny speck.

On the other hand, if the theoretical observer on the surface of the sun had all our technology they would certainly be able to spot orbiting planets (?3000 years ago) detect our orbiting moon (300 years ago) and our radio broadcasts would have reached them minuts ago.

[Caruso]

You could see it so long as it wasn't in the shadow of the Sun.

[Strangely Brown]

AlexanderV8 said:

lazyitus said:

sleep envy said:

I reckon you'd only be able to see it at nightime, othewise how else would you be able to see it through the telescope?

There aint no night time on the Sun though, is there ? The sun makes day, night time isn't on the menu.

And it's only the light from the Sun that would make the Earth visible, but that same light would shirley cause much too much pollution to make anything outside the solar flares visible.

Light pollution is only a problem on Earth because we have an atmosphere that scatters the light. Outside of Earth's atmposphere if you stand with your back to the Sun, the sky would be pitch black (except for the stars of course), i.e. no "light pollution".

[lazyitus]

wendyg said:

Very interesting question!

I have no real experience in this area, but given that the sun is 93 million miles away, and the earth is 22000 miles across (please feel free to correct those figures, but i hope they are ballpark) I doubt that an appropriately heatproofed observer would spot this tiny speck.

On the other hand, if the theoretical observer on the surface of the sun had all our technology they would certainly be able to spot orbiting planets (?3000 years ago) detect our orbiting moon (300 years ago) and our radio broadcasts would have reached them minuts ago.

I like your answer, Wendy. Well played.

[wendyg]

lazyitus said:

wendyg said:

Very interesting question!

I have no real experience in this area, but given that the sun is 93 million miles away, and the earth is 22000 miles across (please feel free to correct those figures, but i hope they are ballpark) I doubt that an appropriately heatproofed observer would spot this tiny speck.

On the other hand, if the theoretical observer on the surface of the sun had all our technology they would certainly be able to spot orbiting planets (?3000 years ago) detect our orbiting moon (300 years ago) and our radio broadcasts would have reached them minuts ago.

I like your answer, Wendy. Well played.

Do I win a prize?

An orbiting moon round a barely detectible planet would be OK, so long as it's called 'Hail WendyG, Destroyer of Worlds'

[lazyitus]

wendyg said:

Do I win a prize?

An orbiting moon round a barely detectible planet would be OK, so long as it's called 'Hail WendyG, Destroyer of Worlds'

It's yours.

[AlexanderV8]

Strangely Brown said:

AlexanderV8 said:

lazyitus said:

sleep envy said:

I reckon you'd only be able to see it at nightime, othewise how else would you be able to see it through the telescope?

There aint no night time on the Sun though, is there ? The sun makes day, night time isn't on the menu.

And it's only the light from the Sun that would make the Earth visible, but that same light would shirley cause much too much pollution to make anything outside the solar flares visible.

Light pollution is only a problem on Earth because we have an atmosphere that scatters the light. Outside of Earth's atmposphere if you stand with your back to the Sun, the sky would be pitch black (except for the stars of course), i.e. no "light pollution".

Agreed, but the OP asked the question of Earth's visibility from the surface of the Sun. I suspect there may be some serious amounts of light there - after all, my solar chargers 93 million away are doing pretty well .

[wendyg]

lazyitus said:

wendyg said:

Do I win a prize?

An orbiting moon round a barely detectible planet would be OK, so long as it's called 'Hail WendyG, Destroyer of Worlds'

It's yours.

Sweet. Could I change the name to 'Hail WendyG, Destroyer of Worlds, Ultimate Arbitrator'? (I have small children)

[lazyitus]

wendyg said:

lazyitus said:

wendyg said:

Do I win a prize?

An orbiting moon round a barely detectible planet would be OK, so long as it's called 'Hail WendyG, Destroyer of Worlds'

It's yours.

Sweet. Could I change the name to 'Hail WendyG, Destroyer of Worlds, Ultimate Arbitrator'? (I have small children)

No. Don't get greedy.

[Strangely Brown]

AlexanderV8 said:

Strangely Brown said:

AlexanderV8 said:

And it's only the light from the Sun that would make the Earth visible, but that same light would shirley cause much too much pollution to make anything outside the solar flares visible.

Light pollution is only a problem on Earth because we have an atmosphere that scatters the light. Outside of Earth's atmposphere if you stand with your back to the Sun, the sky would be pitch black (except for the stars of course), i.e. no "light pollution".

Agreed, but the OP asked the question of Earth's visibility from the surface of the Sun. I suspect there may be some serious amounts of light there - after all, my solar chargers 93 million away are doing pretty well .

Yes, I know what the OP's question was and the answer is, not with the naked eye but yes with a telescope. However, I was addressing the point that you made. There is some serious light there but it's not visible if it's behind you until it reflects off something that is in front of you. We experience the problem because of the atmosphere scattering the light. There would be none at the OP's viewing position and therefore no way for the light to reach your eyes without hitting something else first.