The nearest stars subtend far too small an angle to be resolved by a ground-based telescope with a resolution of 1 second of arc. At what distance would a solar-type star have to be to be resolved by such a telescope?
1 Answer
Mar 8, 2018
The distance is not the only aspect that needs to be considered.
Explanation:
To see a star it has to have a apparent magnitude "low" enough to be seen through the atmosphere. The gases in the atmosphere are moving constantly and at different speeds so that it makes it hard to see a star with an apparent magnitude greater than 6th magnitude with the naked eye, or 16th magnitude with a powerful 15 in. telescope.
Above is the equation for apparent magnitude, which you can look into more here.
*If this was an insufficient answer my apologies, your question seemed rather ambiguous, instead of trying to put so many terms in, rather try to use precise language.
