On 25 Mar 2004 15:20:09 -0800, Ben Shoemate wrote:

Is this kind of a veiw possible with the naked eye:
http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/2..._wallpaper.jpg

in other words - if a planet (and its parent star) where some number
of lightyears above the pole of this galaxy, would their nightime sky
appear like this photo. I have to think maybe not - but I don't know
why. Any one know?

As you guess, nowhere. That kind of view is only possible with accumlated
light capture. To a continuous-detection device like the human eye (or
camcorder), no galaxy will ever appear like that. When you get closer,
stars that are borderline resolvable become resolved into faint point
sources, and stars previously too faint to see become part of the
unresolved haze.

It's obvious when you consider the fact that the Milky Way and Andromeda
galaxy look pretty much the same, despite the latter being over two
million light years away, while the former (the unresolved band, of
course, not the galaxy as a whole) is tens of thousands of light years
away.

--
- Mike

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