Question

Jupiter is about 5 times further away from the Sun than the Earth is. How much fainter will the Sun appear to be to an astronaut visiting this Jovian world?

a. It would be 9 times fainter

b. As all the Solar System planets are so much closer to the Sun
than the stars, there would be no obvious change in their apparent brightness

c.It would be 5 times fainter

d. It would be 25 times fainter

Answer 1

Jupiter receives 1/25th of the sunlight that the Earth receives, so the Sun would appear 25 times fainter to an astronaut visiting Jupiter.

Step-by-step explanation:

The light a planet receives from the Sun decreases with the square of the distance from the Sun. Jupiter is about 5 times further away from the Sun than the Earth is, so we can calculate the decrease in brightness using the formula (1/5)² = 1/25. This means that Jupiter receives 1/25th of the sunlight that the Earth receives, so the Sun would appear 25 times fainter to an astronaut visiting Jupiter.