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BosonJaw
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Given current technology, and applicable laws, what is the greatest distance at which we can see 1 star?
Unless I'm way off, wouldn't it be 13.7 billion light years? That is to say, the age of the universe in light years?pixel01 said:The deep field images of Hubble are about 5 bn light years. According to the BB, we can not see anything further than 13.7 light years.
SticksandStones said:Unless I'm way off, wouldn't it be 13.7 billion light years? That is to say, the age of the universe in light years?
Laura1013 said:You're forgetting about the expansion of the Universe. We can see much farther than 13.7 billion light-years.
Edit to clarify: We can theoretically see much farther than 13.7 billion light-years. Our technology and observational methods can limit us.
SticksandStones said:I don't understand. If the age of the universe is 13.7 billion years, and light in a vacuum has the highest attainable velocity, then how can we see further than even light could have traveled?
When the light left that star, it was much closer than 13.7Gly. Space ahas expanded in that time. The star can be much farther away frim us now and yet its light (from 10Gy ago) did not have to cross all that distance.SticksandStones said:I don't understand. If the age of the universe is 13.7 billion years, and light in a vacuum has the highest attainable velocity, then how can we see further than even light could have traveled?
Here is a supernova visible even in a small scope - that's 5 billion light years away.russ_watters said:The question sounds to me like it is asking how far away we can discern individual stars. That would probably be limited to our neares neighbors in our local group of galaxies - 10 million light years or so. Just a guess though.
As of now, the farthest star that can be seen with the naked eye is about 4,000 light years away. However, with the help of telescopes and other advanced technology, we are able to see stars that are billions of light years away.
The most commonly used technology to measure the distance to a star is called parallax. This method involves measuring the apparent shift of a star's position in the sky as the Earth orbits around the Sun.
No, there are no laws that restrict the distance at which we can see a star. However, there may be laws or regulations in place that limit the use of certain technology for observing stars, such as restrictions on light pollution in certain areas.
Our current measurements of the distance to stars can vary in accuracy depending on the method used. The parallax method, for example, can have an accuracy of up to 0.001% for nearby stars, while other methods may have a larger margin of error.
There is currently no known limit to how far we can see a single star. With advancements in technology, we are constantly able to see and study stars at greater and greater distances. However, there may be limitations based on the capabilities of our current technology.