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Old January 6th 04, 06:44 PM
Jonathan Silverlight
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Default [OT] Looking at the sun - Safe distance?

In message , Henry Spencer
writes
In article ,
Bruce Palmer wrote:
Nevertheless, as you move away from the sun, beyond 1 AU, there must be
a point at which the intensity of harmful radiation falls below the
level that will damage your eyes.


It might be a long way out. The apparent brightness, in photons per
square degree, doesn't change with distance -- the amount of light
received by a given collector (e.g. your pupil) drops off according to the
inverse-square law, but so does the apparent area of the Sun.


Drat. You beat me to it. But continuing to the logical conclusion, the
Sun will continue to be a hazard until it's too small to resolve (1
minute of arc ??)
--
Rabbit arithmetic - 1 plus 1 equals 10
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