Imagine that an astronomer at a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri is studying our S
ID: 2050266 • Letter: I
Question
Imagine that an astronomer at a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri is studying our Solar system in search of habitable planets. Distance from Alpha Centuri to the Sun is 1.34pc. In this problem assume that planets have albedo equal to 1 (this simply means that all light that falls on their surface is reflected back to the space). If a Centaurian astronomer were able to see the Earth and Jupiter, which one would (on average) appear brighter to her? (Hint: find the ratio of fluxes of the Solar radiation intercepted by two planets -for that you'll need the planetary radii and their distance from the Sun.)Explanation / Answer
Jupiter