Question

Which of the following explains why the Sun appears brighter than the newly discovered giant star when viewed from Earth, despite the new star being 90 times larger and very hot and blue-white in color?

A) The Sun is much closer to Earth than the new star.
B) The new star emits most of its energy in non-visible parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.
C) The Sun is more massive than the new star.
D) The Earth's atmosphere scatters the sunlight, making the Sun appear brighter.
E) The new star is in a different stage of its life cycle, and its brightness is lower.

Answer 1

The Sun appears brighter than the newly discovered larger star because it is considerably closer to Earth than the distant star, despite the new star's greater size and higher energy output.

Step-by-step explanation:

The reason the Sun appears brighter than the newly discovered giant star, despite the new star being larger, is because the Sun is much closer to Earth than the new star. A giant star that is 90 times larger and exhibits a hot, blue-white color must be a significant distance from Earth to appear fainter than the Sun. The size of a star and its color indicate its energy output; however, distance plays a crucial role in perceived brightness.

Even though other stars can be much brighter in absolute terms, due to their vast distances from Earth, they appear fainter. The Sun is only about 93 million miles away, which makes it the brightest star in our sky. In contrast, Sirius, one of the brightest stars we see at night, emits 23 times more energy than the Sun yet appears fainter because it is farther away from us. Therefore, even a colossal and hot star, if far enough away, will seem dimmer than our local star.