Looking At The Night Sky

[Mintaka]

Are most of the stars I see up there similar in size to our sun?

 

Can I see with my naked eye any objects which are in fact outside the Milky Way?

 

Thank you..

[Turtle]

the stars you can see vary greatly in size. here's a graphic from wiki. >

 

stars @wiki

 

while this article first mentions "yes" you can see stars outside our galaxy with the naked eye, that yes is explained last. :lol: if another super nova outside the milky way occurs in your life time, then you can see it if you look. :P

 

Can we see individual stars that are outside our galaxy?

Yes and No. The faintest individual stars we can see with our naked eyes are brighter than an apparent magnitude of about +6.5. The bright star Betelgeuse in Orion is at a distance of 1500 light years and is 10,000 times as luminous as the Sun. To be outside our galaxy, the star has to be at least 3000 light years above the plane of the Milky Way in the so-called Halo region, which is still technically a part of our Milky Way, but at least not a part of the spiral disk. There are no supergiants like Betelgeuse in the halo of the Milky Way. The most common stars are only a little more brighter than the Sun, which means they would be much fainter than the faintest star you could see with your eye. The famous Supernova of 1987 is, of course, the only recent exception. It was a single star located 160,000 light years outside the Milky Way which we could see easily with the naked eye. That's what made it doubly spectacular. ...

[Mintaka]

Thanks for clearing that up for me Turtle :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

the stars you can see vary greatly in size. here's a graphic from wiki. >

 

stars @wiki

 

while this article first mentions "yes" you can see stars outside our galaxy with the naked eye, that yes is explained last. :lol: if another super nova outside the milky way occurs in your life time, then you can see it if you look. :P

 

Can we see individual stars that are outside our galaxy?

[Turtle]

Thanks for clearing that up for me Turtle :)

 

my pleasure. what's more, a chance of a lifetime is now! get your binoculars and get lookin'.

 

http://www.space.com/12806-supernova-skywatching-tips-star-explosion-sn2011fe.html

How to Spot New Supernova in Nearby Galaxy

 

This week, while the moon is still not overly bright, you have a chance to see the death of a star: a supernova. Unfortunately, this stupendous event is taking place not in our own galaxy — where it would be readily visible to the naked eye — but in the galaxy M101.

 

The bursting star was first seen on Aug. 23 with the 48-inch Oschin Schmidt telescope at Palomar Mountain Observatory in California. First called PTF 11kly and now designated SN2011fe, the supernova was discovered shining at a magnitude of +17.2, but has been brightening rapidly ever since.

 

Within the next week, it might reach 11th magnitude — appearing to shine some 300 times brighter than when it was first seen (remember, the lower the figure of magnitude, the brighter the object). The threshold of naked-eye visibility is magnitude 6.5.

 

...

[Turtle]

i tried to see the supernova last night but i was hampered by skys hazy with wildfire smoke and somewhat underpowered 7x35 binoculars. will try again tonight. here's a video link with instructions how to view the supernova. >>