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1. qingch+(OP)[view] [source] 2023-07-31 18:14:20
How bright does the Sun appear compared to other stars at a distance of 32Bn km?

Here is a photo from Voyager 1 at a distance of 4Bn miles:

https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00450

replies(1): >>Lareme+7U
2. Lareme+7U[view] [source] 2023-07-31 23:06:25
>>qingch+(OP)
Trying to see if I can work this out.

Voyager 2 is 160.7 AU.

Light falls off in brightness to the distance squared. So the sun will be 160.7^2 = 25824.5 times fainter for Voyager 2 than it is from Earth. (Since Earth is at 1AU)

The apparent magnitude of the sun from Earth is -26.72. Each step in magnitude is multiplying by 2.512. (2.512^5 = 100, so 5 steps of magnitude is a factor of 100).

log2.512(25824.5) = 11.0295.

11.0295 + -26.72 = -15.6905.

The apparent magnitude of the full moon is only −12.74 (lower is brighter). So for Voyager 2 the sun is still several times brighter than we see the moon. The sun is still many many times brighter than the next brightest star in the sky, Sirius, which has an apparent magnitude of −1.46.

Sources: Voyager 2 distance is https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status/ all else is Wikipedia.

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