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Which of these two things is brighter?
Venus as viewed from Earth. Or Earth as viewed from Venus. I've tried looking it up and I've gotten conflicting answers. Some say that Venus would be brighter because it is closer to the sun and has a higher albedo. Some say that Earth would be brighter because Earth is larger plus we can only see half of Venus at most being an interior planet while you can see a Full Earth from Venus.
Is it a case where one answer is correct using average magnitude and the other is at maximum magnitude?
Also, I wasn't able to find the apparent magnitude of Earth from Venus so if anyone has that number it would be greatly appreciated.
EDIT: Another argument that I've heard in favour of Earth being brighter which I forgot to put down is that Venus is in its New phase when it is closest to Earth but Earth is in its Full phase when closest to Venus.
Hope that helps.
4 Answers
- ?Lv 79 years agoFavorite Answer
According to Starry Night, Earth is brighter. Earth during the transit of Venus would have appeared to be magnitude –6.52 from Venus, whereas Venus at maximum brightness yesterday was magnitude –4.47. Venus has a much higher albedo that Earth (0.65 vs. 0.37), but seen as "full" Earth from Venus, Earth has a much larger surface area, because Venus at its brightest seen from Earth is a large but narrow crescent. Also Earth has a diameter of 1.0 arc minutes at opposition with Venus, while Venus is only 37 arc seconds at maximum brightness. By the time we see a "full" Venus, close to superior conjunction, Venus has shrunk to only 9.7 arc seconds, and is only magnitude –3.91.
Source(s): Starry Night software - Kevin MLv 59 years ago
Venus is about the same size as earth so that argument is null.
Venus' thick atmosphere makes it very reflective I believe, and if it weren't right in front of the dang sun, it would be even brighter.
on the other hand, earth is on the correct side of venus so that all the light from the sun could be reflected back giving it an edge like that....
so all in all I can only give you my opinion that Venus is brighter from earth just because it is closer
Source(s): ma brain - 9 years ago
Venus would be brighter from Earth.
Venus has a greater albedo than Earth, (more light reflection), and it's closer to the sun, so the intensity of light falling on Venus is greater.
