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How long does it take for light from the stars of the big dipper to reach earth?
Wiki User
∙ 8y ago
The stars we see at night are nearby stars in the Milky Way. The north star, Polaris, is 430 lightyears away, so its light takes 430 years to reach us. As contrast, the Milky Way is 100,000 lightyears across, and the nearest major galaxy is 2,200,000 lightyears away.
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoThe North Star, Polaris, is about 430 light-years away.
The fastest spacecraft we could possibly build, with our current understanding of physics, MIGHT be able to attain a speed of 0.1c, where "c" is the speed of light. So a trip would take 4,300 years. Bear in mind that no such ship currently exists in anything other than rough speculation, and that 4300 years is approximately the age of human civilization, so it probably cannot be done at all.
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoGo outside on a clear moonless night. You will see clearly that you cannot see a thing.
So the amount of starlight that hits the Earth is "very little".
But why is this so? Granted, the stars are exceedingly far away, but there are billions upon billions of stars in the sky. A single grain of sand on the beach is practically weightless, yet a bucket of sand is quite heavy. Why doesn't the infinitesimal amount of light from each of trillions of stars add up to a lot of light?
This is the crux of Olbers' Paradox.
The amount of light that Earth reveives from a star is called the star's "Apparent Magnitude"
Wiki User
∙ 10y agoThe nearest star to us besides the sun is either Alpha or Proxima Centauri,
depending on where they are in their orbits. Their distance from us is about
4.2 light years. That means it takes their light 4.2 years to reach us.
Wiki User
∙ 10y agoI don't think there is a special name for that, since the amount of energy received by Earth this way is quite insignificant.
Other ideas:
For a particular star, it is called the "apparent brightness".
It is also sometimes called the "intensity" or "flux" of the starlight.
(Note that it's not the same thing as "apparent magnitude".)
The apparent brightness can easily be measured with modern telescopes and electronic devices. It has units of energy per second per square meter.
A star's "luminosity" is the amount of energy it gives out per second.
A star's "apparent brightness" is:
the star's luminosity divided by 4 pi x square of its distance.
Wiki User
∙ 10y agoQuite simply, take the distance in light years and that is your answer. Alpha Centauri
is 4.3 light years away, so that is how long its light will take to reach us, 4.3 years.
The closest star to us, our sun is 8.3 light minutes away. This is about 93 million
miles. But the light will only take... you guessed it, 8.3 minutes to reach Earth.
The closest other star to Earth is Proxima Centauri, at 4.2 light years away - which
means that it takes light 4.2 years to get here.
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Only about 81/3 minutes from the nearest star.
Wiki User
∙ 15y agowat to say to my boy friend on the phone that loving
Wiki User
∙ 8y agoThe exact distance to Polaris is not known, but is estimated at 325 to 425 light years, so light from it takes 235 to 425 years to reach us.
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoFrom anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere, Polaris (the North Star, the Pole Star) can be seen at any time on any clear night, always in very nearly the same place in the sky.
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoThat depends on the distance to its destination. From the
North Star to Earth, that trip takes about 430 years.
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What takes longer to reach earth light from the sun or light from other stars?
Light from the sun because all light travels at the same speed, and the sun is the closest star to the earth, so therefore the light from the sun reaches the earth before light from other (further away) stars
Is the big dipper a consalation?
No, the Big Dipper is a constellation.Constellation means stars together and from Earth they appear in the same part of the sky but from another place in the galaxy the might not.
How many light years between Alkaid and Merak stars of the big dipper?
They are about 25.6 light years apart in the earths sky.
Where is the big dipper located?
The Big Dipper or 'Plough' or 'Saucepan', is a collection of stars that form part of the constellation Ursa Major (The Large Bear). A constellation is a group of stars that appear to form a pattern in the sky. In reality these stars are in some cases millions of light-years distant from one another, and do not form an actual physical body in space. The Big Dipper is easy to spot most of the time in the north hemisphere as it contains one of the brightest stars in the night sky, Polaris or 'The North Star'.
Earths distance from the big dipper?
Around 90 light years away. There is no exact answer because the stars that make up the big dipper are different distances from the sun. Name and distance of the stars that make up the Big Dipper. Mizar 78 light years Merak 79 light years Megrez 81 light years Alioth 81 light years Phecda 84 light years Alkaid 101 light years Dubhe 124 light years
How long does it take for light from big dipper stars to reach earth?
That's good question of which I do not know the answer to. Go ask a scientist.
Do the stars of little dipper twinkle?
All stars twinkle in some way. This effect occurs because the stars are so far away from the earth that the light they emit actually bends a bit in Earth's atmosphere thus producing a wavering light. So yes, the stars of the little dipper do twinkle.
How far is megrez from earth?
Megrez the Faintest of the Big Dipper Stars is 66 light years away.
If a star from the big dipper flickers today did that happened 139 years ago?
No. If you see a star flicker, chances are you are not seeing something that happened to the star itself, but a result of light being distorted as it travels through Earth's atmosphere. Anyway the stars in the big dipper are at different distances from Earth. It's not as though light takes 139 years to reach us from all of them.
What is the distance between the earth and the big dipper?
There is no single number that describes a distance between the earth and that, or any other constellation. The big dipper is a pattern of stars visible in the skies of the northern hemisphere. Its seven stars are not actually associated with each other and are at widely differing distances from the earth, ranging from 58 to 124 light years.
When do stars appear?
The light emited by stars can take thousands of years to reach the Earth, because the stars can be located thousands of light years away. Stars viewed from Earth can only be seen at night because the light from the sun creates a glear on the atmosphere.
Does the constellation reflect light?
a constellation is a set of stars that are their own light and takes millions of light yeaars to reach earth.
How many meters per second would it take stars light to reach earth?
Light travels at about 300,000 metres per second. The time taken for that light to reach us would depend on the stars distance.
How many light years across is the big dipper?
The big dipper is not real, it is a pattern of stars seen from our vantage point.
How many miles is the little dipper from earth?
The Little Dipper is a constellation, a patterns of stars in the night sky that people pick out. It is not possible to give a distance of a constellation from Earth because it consists of many stars at very different distances from the earth. For example, Polaris, the brightest star in that constellation, is about 433 light years from Earth. But the second brightest star, Beta Ursae Minoris (also called Kochab) is about 131 light years from earth. The third brightest star is 487 light years away
What takes longer to reach earth light from the sun or light from other stars?
Light from the sun because all light travels at the same speed, and the sun is the closest star to the earth, so therefore the light from the sun reaches the earth before light from other (further away) stars
How long does it take stars light to get to us?
In our Solar System, we see light from our sun reflected off the planets. In more distant galaxies, light from many millions of stars takes a long time to reach the Earth. It takes light 4 years to reach the Earth from Sirius, a near neighbouring star. Using the Hubble telescope, we can see the light from the Eagle Nebula, which takes 7,000 years to reach the Earth.
