Question

Polaris, also known as the North Star, is about 46 times larger than the Sun. Explain why the Sun appears brighter than Polaris from Earth. A) Polaris is much farther from Earth than the Sun. B) The Sun's temperature is much greater than Polaris's. C) Polaris's light is partially hidden behind other planets. D) The Sun has a much grea

Answer 1

A) Polaris is much farther from Earth than the Sun -is the reason why Polaris although about 46 times larger than the Sun, the Sun appears brighter than Polaris from Earth.

Explanation:

Astronomers define the brightness of a star based on its apparent magnitude and absolute magnitude. The apparent magnitude tells about how bright does a star looks from the Earth. The absolute magnitude of star is its brightness or magnitude at a standard distance of 10 parsecs or 32.6 light-years.  

Accordingly,  

The apparent magnitude of Sun is 26.74; while that of Polaris is 2.02

The absolute magnitude of Sun is 4.63; while that of Polaris is 3.6

The Sun is at a distance of 0.000015649 light years from the Earth; while the Polaris is 434 light years from the Earth. A star appears brighter from the Earth due to the closeness of the star to the Earth.

All these factors make the Sun appear brighter than the Polaris .