How much dimmer does the Sun appear from Pluto than from the Earth?

1 Answer
Oscar L.
Aug 7, 2016

On average, the ratio of apparent brightnesses is about 1560 to 1.

Explanation:

The apparent brightness of the Sun from any orbiting object varies, because the orbits are elliptical and so the distances vary. But on average Pluto is about #39.5# times as far from the Sun as Earth is.

Then the apparent brightness of the Sun varies inversely with the square of distance, so:

#{"Brightness on Earth"}/{"Brightness on Pluto"}=39.5^2=1560#.

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